


The Maelstrom Chronicles

by Jim_Ohki



Category: Final Fantasy VII, Naruto
Genre: F/F, F/M, Godlike!Naruto, Harem, Lemons, MateriaGod!Naruto, Multi, cliches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-08
Updated: 2014-10-08
Packaged: 2018-02-20 09:46:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 25,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2424197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jim_Ohki/pseuds/Jim_Ohki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Obvious AU, OOC. Eight year old Naruto stumbles across the find of a lifetime, and canon never looks back. Expanded Summary and notes within.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One

Disclaimer: I make no claims at ownership of any copyrighted characters, places or events used herein. The only thing I make a claim to is this fic, which originated in my head and any original characters created by me herein. The following was made for public consumption at zero profit, and is not for sale except to the owning companies. Yes, I dream big.

 _ **ALTERNATE TIMELINE/UNIVERSE WARNING**_ : Because mid to late teenagers are more in touch with reality -when they stop substituting their own, at any rate- than pre/early teens, I have advanced canon by three years while holding to events. This means the Rookie Nine (Naruto's Class) are FIFTEEN while Team Gai is SIXTEEN. I'm of the belief that it's too much to ask for with a younger ninja-child to take their profession seriously . . . no matter who the Sensei is.

 ** _Special Notes_** : Writer’s block sucks. That’s all there is to say about that. Same goes for hardware failures and backups not . . . backing up as they should. Ugh, Epic Fail. So, I direct your attention to the ever changing profile to avoid the Author’s Note that won’t apply after a while.

 

 ** _The Question:_** What would happen to the Narutoverse if he discovered relics of the past? A past so old that not even myths have survived the tests of time?

 

 ** _Keywords:_** Crossover, Ridiculous!Power, Bashing, Smarter!Naruto, Materia!God!Naruto, Grey!Naruto, FirstTsurugi!Naruto, Ass-hat!Sasuke, Wimp!Sakura, Worn-out!Sandaime, Harem, Violence, Character Injury/Death, Bad Jokes, Language.

 

The Maelstrom Chronicles, Part One

 

By: (Driver) Jim Ohki

 

**_Forests outside Konoha; May 24, 8 After Kyuubi_ **

 

There were times in Naruto Uzumaki’s life that he found peace. While always fleeting, the moments of quiet gave him time to reflect on his troubles if he so chose. Most of the time he ignored his issues, preferring instead to lighten his mood by pranking those that had truly done him wrong.

 

That was one of the many things about his personality that seemed to escape the notice of everybody else. He did know the difference of right and wrong, always picking the targets of humiliation carefully and going to great lengths so that only said targets were effected by his petty revenge.

 

Labeling it such showed yet another part of him that few rarely noticed. He was not dumb or stupid by any stretch of the imagination. Since he understood the concept he wanted to be a ninja for his village, which came with the first lesson on the greatest tool at their disposal.

 

 

It was a work of art, how deep his went. Everybody from the Hokage down would be literally looking at him one way while he was doing something else right under their nose. He was a master at misdirection and confusion, leaving migraines in his wake. Well, that and paperwork which always earned the ire of the Old Man.

 

Not feeling like causing terror to the masses, today was a day for Naruto to connect with nature. While his mind wandered from subject to subject without guidance, he simply walked amongst the trees to the north of Konoha. This area was deserted, leaving him with a sense of security and safety that was a rarity in itself near the villagers. He had never understood why he had ANBU guarding him, nor did he really care. As their job called for zero interaction with their charge unless necessary he didn’t know a single one of them personally. What mattered most to Naruto was that they unwittingly gave him great evasion training as he would come up with new ways to escape their care and see how long it took them to find him again.

 

The longest he had managed to date had been an entire day. For some reason those masked ninja were getting worse instead of better, almost as if they were being converted into cannon-fodder. One was especially bad, always being late by a minimum of two hours for his shift.

 

Plenty of time to slip away unnoticed into the trees north of the Monument.

 

His journey didn’t last long, emerging from the tree-line he found himself on the edge of a rather large crater. He knew instantly where he had wandered off to as there was only one such crater this close to the village.

 

The Kyuubi’s _Bijuudama_ had made this massive dish in the ground. The bottom was some two hundred meters down, at the center of where the ball of power had exploded. The floor curved upwards as it neared the walls, making a bowl shape with cliffs a mere five meters vertical before tapering towards the center. Life had yet to return to the unnatural formation, leaving it barren and dreary. This was in contrast to the fact that it was a very nice day with the sun shining and a light breeze keeping the air fresh.

 

The sound of falling rock caught his attention, eyes quickly scanning the crater for the cause. There, on the other side was an opening. It went fairly deep into the ground, if the fact that the back wall couldn’t be seen with the sun shining into the hole. Curious yet cautious he made his way down into the crater.

 

Twenty minutes later the Shinobi in training felt his curiosity waning. Getting into the cave had been easy, yet it appeared that the tunnel was endless as it kept on going and it was getting harder to see the further away from a light source he was. Several other ideas had crept into his mind though, such as with some torches this would make an excellent hideout from the occasional villager that let their emotions get away from them. With some work he could make a training area in here, one that would give him privacy so that nobody would have any idea just how strong he was.

 

Just as he was about to give up and turn around did the tunnel suddenly widen into a bigger space. Eyes squinting in an effort to see his surroundings, Naruto found himself in the last place he would have ever thought of.

 

The petrified remains of a church.

 

This place had to be Holy Ground to have survived for however long it had been here. There was even a hole in the ceiling letting in light on a patch of flowers that looked out of place with the ruins. Having come in through the remains of the back wall, he carefully navigated around the flower patch so as not to disturb the harmony he felt in this place before stepping through the front door.

 

Well, no need to dig a cavern out when there was one already in place! It was the jackpot: a rusted structure overhead had prevented the earth from retaking the area under it, instead creating the plateau that was Konoha’s northern defense. There were vast piles of junk strewn about, as if they had been placed there without a care as to going through them later. Most of the piles were fused together over time as moss had grown on the metal before the moisture within caused rust and decay to finish the job.

 

His right foot kicked a loose piece of steel that he hadn’t seen, drawing his eyes downward. It was a sign of some kind, one that was still readable even after who knew how long.

 

 _Midgar Under-Plate Sector Five_.

 

What an odd name for the place. His mind started working on the possibilities while his legs carried him back towards the church. The number was a dead giveaway that there were other spaces like this one to be explored once he found them. It would take time, he knew, away from training and otherwise being a ninja but there was something about stumbling across something that no-one else had that tickled his fancy.

 

Upon returning to the church, Naruto found that the light from the sun had shifted from the garden to . . . oh dear. Clapping his hands twice, he bowed his head in respect and gave a prayer for the unknown warrior that he had missed the first time he came through here.

 

The Church, as he named it for reference, had not wanted to let go of its’ last champion. While the clothing was long since rotted away, most likely with the tissue of the warrior, propped up against one of the massive pillars was a sun bleached white and petrified skeleton. From what little he knew of anatomy from the Academy, the remains were complete as there were no missing bones that he could see. It almost looked like this was the place that the unknown had chosen to die, having lived his life and helped those he could.

 

Powerful stuff right there. As a warrior in training he wanted to be just like this fellow, having done everything he could in his lifetime before returning to a special place for his final rest. Yes, that was up there on his list right under being Hokage. Not that he would say that to anybody, as it was nobody else’s business.

 

Unbeknownst to Naruto, he chakra was having an effect on his surroundings. As he had almost zero control thanks to the circumstances of his birth and nobody willing to teach him such control, he was always saturating areas he lurked in. This was what led to his paranoia about ghosts. The life energy he leaked was enough to give those that had lingered form if he stayed in the same spot long enough, which he had deduced on his own when he had noticed the specters of the past trying to get his attention.

 

Here, in a place that had been touched by the Life-stream and thus Nature Energy the effect was much quicker than normal.

 

“So, somebody has found this place,” the quiet voice might as well have shouted with the way the boy made an effort to leave his skin behind.

 

“Who-,” Naruto took in that the man that had appeared was transparent; the identifier of ghosts everywhere. Steeling his resolve, he tried again only going for a much politer approach. “I’m sorry for entering this sacred place. Can you tell me . . . anything?” The pause at the end was for proper wording, for it would be downright rude to just blurt questions at a ghost.

 

“I like you already,” the unknown man didn’t raise his voice, instead sitting down on a fallen pillar. The kid was at least humble and aware of his surroundings if he could detect that he was on Holy Ground. “My name is Cloud Strife, and I died here fifty thousand years ago. I have waited for this day, when the right person that would find my . . . the end of my journey would come along. It’s strange though, it almost appears like I’m looking into a mirror . . . Tifa, what didn’t you tell me?”

 

As Cloud had talked, he had become more opaque letting Naruto get a good look at the man. He felt his jaw come unhinged when he realized that they looked very similar, minus a few traits from those that had been the other half of their DNA. Even though the shade of the man appeared to be in no more than his early forties his eyes gave away that he had lived longer . . . much longer.

 

“I can see it in your eyes, even if it’s been weakened over the generations,” the elder blond continued, sharp eyes scrutinizing the boy in front of him. “The Mako infusion must have grafted itself into my genes, passing it on down the line. While the other benefits have disappeared or not yet awakened what’s left might just be enough to use Materia at a high level . . . and I’ve lost you already.”

 

“I don’t believe anybody uses this Materia anymore,” the younger of the two twiddling his thumbs, trying to not offend the man that was at least talking to him. “The ninja do everything with hand-signs; well, the throwing elements around stuff anyway. The same with the Healers, they also contort their hands into odd shapes which then glow green before they put them where it hurts.”

 

“Internalized Mako usage then?” Cloud was off into thought, trying to figure out what had changed about the world. Having chosen to remain near his . . . remains, he had missed many of the events that had shaped the rest of the world. Something must have happened to the Life-stream, causing it to once again rise out of the planet’s crust only this time saturating the humans with its’ power.

 

“Boy,” he abruptly called out, bringing the attention of his presumed descendent back onto his ghostly visage. “There is much in the world that has changed since my time. I can sense unrest in the air, as if Nature itself is in the process of holding its’ breath waiting for something unnatural to happen. You, my potential living progeny, need training for whatever it is that has the planet on edge will no doubt involve you. Make no mistake, my training style is harsh. You will have to push yourself to the very edge of the Abyss every day to be up to my standards. In time, I will make you into my successor.”

 

He paused for dramatic effect, even going so far as to give the most serious look he could.

 

“But first! What’s your name?”

 

 _Ho boy, this was going to take a while_ , Naruto thought from his new position face-down in the dirt . . .

 

**_Church Ruins, Seven Years Later, 1800 (May 24, 15 AK)_ **

 

Seven years of pure hell for one Naruto Uzumaki were coming to a close. It had not been easy, training in parallel at the Academy with Cloud-sensei. The man had delivered on his promise, being one of the strictest task-masters he had ever encountered. A byproduct was that his energy levels were low enough during lessons that he could sit still and learn from Iruka.

 

Well, that and he was just too tired to pull off any worthy pranks.

 

Having heard a reference to the special group of sword-users in Kiri, he had to wonder if they too had undergone such intense training. If they did, they were just as insane as he was. Everything he had put his body through had paid off though, as he could use two of the three Academy basic jutsu with such ease that he didn’t even need the hand-seals nor did he leave any traces such as puffs of smoke. His grades in other subjects had come up, what with having a tutor that finally taught him how to read properly alongside how to write.

 

With the mastering of the _Henge_ did entire new worlds open up for the blond pariah. He could now shop, browse the library and do every other activity that the rest of Konoha took for granted without being hassled such as buying clothes that didn’t act as a beacon. Having access to much better food led to an early growth spurt, skyrocketing from the three foot eight shrimp he had been to six foot two. Without looking it, thanks in part to wielding the completed _First Tsurugi_ , his strength was incredible.

 

Only one skill continued to elude him: that blasted _Bunshin_ jutsu. Even with access to real training material, including chakra control, he just could not for the life of him make the illusion clones work. He even tried making more than one, resulting in a success in the millions.

 

 

That was far too many yet nothing he could do to trim the numbers worked. If he aimed for less than two million illusions over an area of two kilometers then he got those sickly, half-dead looking abominations.

 

It was maddening.

 

Even his teacher was confused as to why he had so much chakra that it overloaded such a basic technique to the point of outright ridiculousness. It was a shame too, for the young man showed so much potential it wasn’t even funny. His Materia usage was mastered to a level Cloud had never achieved in life, being able to fire off near endless amounts of the elements and everything else without tiring. Unfortunately, Nature had never seen fit to give birth to a Materia that had a cloning ability such as what the humans these days had.

 

“Naruto,” the elder blond was as quiet and serious as ever, “it is time for drastic measures. While you have come as close to mastering everything else I’ve thrown at you as you can, you know that it’ll become moot if you don’t graduate again.”

 

“You don’t have to tell me Jiji,” was the equally quiet response from the once loud living blond. “I guess I have a mission tonight then: sneak into the Shinobi Library and see if I can find something . . . anything that will help me. Easy enough to do with the Gennin section but the others have much better security. I’ll have to be quick as the Graduation Exam is in two weeks.”

 

“You’ve learned all that I have to teach,” Cloud looked at his protégé, a rare heartfelt smile adorning his features, “and as such it’s about time for me to move on. I’m sure the others have grown very irritated with me for dilly-dallying this long . . . heh. Dilly-dally, shilly-shally indeed.”

 

“Circle of life and all of that, huh?” the young man had turned away to the right, not wanting his ancestor to see him cry at a time like this. The past seven years have been some of the best of his life, having met a probable member of his family and found acceptance with him. It was going to be hard going back to being alone.

 

“You’re never alone boy!” he had read his emotions quite easily, even with having nothing but the back of his head to look at. “We’ve gone over this many times now. Start with your own generation, or even those after, to gain what you seek the most. The older one gets the more into their ways they are set. Things will happen, and how you handle them will result in either those that are more often than not unimportant background filler coming around or not.”

 

“I hear you, Jiji,” Naruto gave his own watery smile, showing that while he understood the fact that one of his precious people was leaving him hurt him deeply.

 

“Good,” Cloud felt that leaving well enough alone would work in this instance. “Now then, there is a secret compartment in that pillar that I . . . held up over the years. In it you’ll find infantile Materia of every type. While the Mastered ones give you the most abilities it’s better to ‘grow’ your own. Gives a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when they Master then Spawn by your hard work. The only one that I recommend taking that is fully grown is the Enemy Skill as it will provide you with a range of attacks not seen since my time.”

 

“How am I supposed to equip all of these at the same time?” Naruto had paid attention to everything the elder blond had said yet could not recall ever touching this topic.

 

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out, beyond the slots I had you get created into your clothing,” was the completely unhelpful response from the longtime resident of the ruins. Like any good teacher, he wasn’t going to just give out every answer on a platter. No, he would guide his pupil in the right direction and let him work it out on his own. It was a help to the young Uzumaki’s false bravado and confidence when he could get the answer this way, proving that he wasn’t as stupid as his mask made him out to be.

 

“Go get started on your mission Naruto,” he continued on a different topic. “Your goal is to graduate, you have almost all of the tools to make it happen. Once you acquire what you’re missing it should be a piece of cake. And who knows, you might just find the answer to a question or two along the way.”

 

“Thank you Sensei, for everything,” the apprentice to one of the greatest warriors ever bowed in gratitude before making his way out of the Church. He knew that when he returned to his private training grounds his mentor, sensei and father –with many greats and a grand- would be gone.

 

In two weeks, Konoha had better be prepared to get a load of him.

 

**_Naruto’s Apartment; Two days before Graduation; 1700_ **

 

His self-appointed mission into the Shinobi Library had resulted in success of the goldmine variety. While the heist took longer than he wished, the fact that he had pulled it off left a sense of satisfaction behind.

 

Once he had returned from the Academy the day after his ‘borrowing’, he had gotten his illicit gains out of their hiding spot and started reading. One was a compilation of clone techniques by the Shodaime Hokage of all people, a little journal that had been misplaced next to the other find. An introduction to _Fuuinjutsu_ penned by the Yondaime.

 

Jackpot!

 

With his improved –still bordering on terrible, but better than none- chakra control Naruto was breezing through the _Bunshin_ manual. He had _Tsuchi, Mizu_ and _Kami_ (Paper) _Bunshin_ down to a science while he was missing something to get the _Raiton_ and _Doton_ clones working.

 

Rather than get frustrated by that, he turned his attention to the book on sealing techniques. At first it was about as dry as _Kaze no Kuni_ , but as it picked up the pace it seemed to change from a teaching manual to a journal that had errors, mishaps, bloopers and general other things not to do when trying one’s hand at _Fuuinjutsu_.

 

Whoever would have thought that there was a seal that could be tuned to a single person so that whenever they walked by there was a loud and wet noise that suspiciously sounded like a fart . . . or that the target just crapped themselves.

 

Huh, who was this Kushina person and why did she figure so predominately in this book? Oh, an Uzumaki . . .

 

Naruto went to bed early, having fainted when he read that.

 

**_Academy; Next Morning; 0800_ **

 

Iruka Umino knew the clock was ticking. Naruto had been silent for seven years already in regards to a prank, and many thought that he had given up that hobby as a bad job. Something had changed in the blond those years ago, almost as if he found somebody to teach him the things he had been lacking in.

 

While at first he had the boy in his class intermittently as per the rotation of Chuunin Sensei’s at the Academy he inevitably got the class with the Heirs and Uzumaki. He was no slouch, knowing that the reason young Naruto had failed twice was his inability to make a clone –or three- of himself. Without a sponsor like Maito Gai to ‘push’ him into service the lack of that one skill was holding him back.

 

Even though the hidden _Jinchuuriki_ produced coronas of blue every time he tapped into his chakra, it never dawned on Iruka that he needed chakra control comparable to a medic to make a regular _Bunshin_. It was an instance of common sense escaping notice, something that happened to everybody everywhere more often than they’d like to admit.

 

With the Graduation Exams approaching, it was review time for everything learned since training began. As the sensei to these kids Iruka had given a silent nod of support when the age limit for graduation was raised. First it had been thirteen, then fourteen and now was at fifteen. After the events of Itachi Uchiha going berserk slaughtering his clan the Ruling Council agreed that the prevention of another rising to fall as he had was a must.

 

The Academy did far more than simply train those wanting to join the Shinobi Military. After all, it was far more productive –and cheaper, not having to hire extra teachers- if they taught everything from reading, writing, math so on and so forth. Thus, the process took longer as the age-appropriate review took place.

 

Naruto strolled through the door, breaking the class Sensei out of his thoughts and bringing silence to his fellow students. Under normal circumstances he had flown under the radar of the class, not bothering to bring any attention to himself when there were far more important things to do.

 

How he did that wearing orange was a mystery.

 

Today, something about him seemed to have changed. It wasn’t just the fact that he had lost the orange in favor of a navy blue body suit, the top half of which was under a cargo shirt that had pockets just about everywhere. The bottom half also adorned multitudes of storage space, along with his twelve kunai holster on his right thigh and a shuriken pouch on his left.

 

Even his now normal calm, cool and collected expression checked out. No, it was the look in his eyes, like he had stumbled across something that had earned his complete attention and felt that he should have known earlier.

 

“Iruka-sensei,” he hadn’t even tried to climb the stairs to his usual seat in the uppermost row on the right hand side, “do you by chance remember the name Kushina?”

 

“That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time,” he admitted, looking intently at his student. “What brought this on?”

 

“What was her clan name?” the blond looked just as fierce as his teacher.

 

“Uzumaki . . .,” and the light came on in Umino’s mind. He gazed at his pupil, taking in his appearance and nearly had a heart attack. “Oh my Kami . . .”

 

“Hmmm, that confirms that,” the younger make didn’t want to elaborate to the rest of the eavesdropping students but gave just enough for the target of his statement to understand.

 

In his office, the Sandaime started sweating nervously as he watched the interaction on his crystal ball. Of course the boy would stumble onto the bigger of two secrets about himself.

 

“Just . . . go, sit down,” Iruka had a hunch that the Hokage would be calling soon for the both of them. Naruto to talk to him, to try to justify his position and Iruka himself for saying something he shouldn’t.

 

Shit. What a way to start the day . . .

 

Lessons carried on as usual, even with the sulking –he refused to actually brood like the Uchiha- Naruto giving off an aura of death that was intensifying every hour he had to wait for the Old Man to summon him. It had gotten so bad a raincloud had formed _indoors_ and was threatening to douse the students in a torrential downpour.

 

“Gah!” Kiba had enough of the gloom coming from the far corner, interrupting the review on the rise of the Sannin. “I can’t concentrate with Baka-Blond brooding worse than Uchiha!”

 

His outburst was enough to set the other students –minus the still sleeping Shikamaru- into a tizzy of complaints and insults directed at said blond. The target of their ire simply gazed at his classmates, taking mental notes on who was silent. He did notice the Hyuuga in the room giving him a sad look, her eyes saying what her mouth couldn’t.

 

“That is enough!” Iruka roared, head inflated to extra-large proportions. “Leave him be, he’s learned . . .”

 

“He can be taught?” the quiet voice of Sasuke still managed to override the class Sensei, earning quite a few laughs from the boys and inane giggling from most of the girls.

 

“Itachi left you alive, why?” Naruto’s comeback silenced everybody as he had gone for the proverbial jugular. The most taboo subject to bring up in the survivor’s presence had been breached now and there was no going back.

 

The target of his barb went back to brooding on how he would get enough strength to kill his brother, using it as a means to refuse to cry for the words had hurt. The fact that Naruto had just placed himself as number two on the must die list wasn’t lost on him either.

 

“Just stop, both of you,” Iruka knew he had to get control of the situation before a free-for-all erupted in his classroom. “Graduation is tomorrow and there is still so much that we have to go over . . .”

 

“I think we have the theoretical down, Sensei,” Naruto had had enough of the sitting around. He needed to vent on something soon, lest he give in to the urge to break out his new toy and imitating Zabuza Momochi’s graduation.

 

“Really?” Iruka wasn’t completely disbelieving of the statement, rather he was intrigued that the answer to the lethargic class was just presented to him. Perhaps the lectures were out of hand anymore.

 

“Don’t get me wrong; the history of the Sannin is just fascinating,” the sarcasm of the blond was lost on no-one, “but the relevancy of it when on a mission is close to nil. Our practical skills on the other hand, well those are far more important I believe. That is, if we want to survive out there in the world.”

 

The Chuunin teacher winced at the veiled truth. It was a harsh place to live in, what with ninja running around all over the place. Rogues were always looking for a quick buck and/or a quick fuck, to be lewd about it.

 

“All right,” the man conceded knowing that he lost the battle. “Front and center, all of you. Practical skills quiz!”

 

“Thanks a lot Naruto,” Ino Yamanaka whined, having to do something other than sit at her desk pining over the class crush.

 

“You’ll thank me for this when you get out of a bad situation,” his retort struck a nerve with his fellow blond.

 

It was maddening to the gossips of the class. Over the past seven years the boy had seemingly lost his energy while he effectively grew up, becoming a student who took things seriously. Nobody knew _who_ to credit with this miracle of miracles though, which as always set the Shinobi populace on edge as unknowns operating under their nose usually equated to spies or saboteurs.

 

Iruka Umino was a thorough man. Whenever he did something he put his all into it, including how he conducted his quizzes. While Mizuki skulked in a corner, being as unobtrusive as he could since the class was ignoring him, the scarred man started with flexibility. Most would scoff at the most basic of basics, however he felt that the level of a student’s contortions showed how much they trained.

 

Those that couldn’t reach their toes after five years where shown the door.

 

Naruto stared impassively as his classmates were called up in alphabetical order by family name. As much as he hated it, he was stuck between the duck-feathers hair of Sasuke and the ten-year-grow-time pony tail of Ino. Making a mental game of it every time a prospective Kunoichi was called up, he let his teenage hormones out of their usual confines.

 

_‘Bah, nothing there!’_

_‘Seen better curves on a two-by-four.’_

_‘Here we go! Wait, did her coat just move?’_

 

Hinata Hyuuga had been hiding much it seemed. Brushing off his mental insult to Sakura Haruno, he focused a bit more of his attention on the bluenette as she folded herself in half.

 

_‘Yes, her coat moved! What the hell is she packing in there, melons?!’_

 

Everybody else was oblivious to the thoughts going through his head, each in their own zone. With the students facing him, Iruka had no idea that he was giving the young men a good show with the Kunoichi as he was focused on the task at hand. He looked over the back of the Hyuuga Heiress only to find Naruto with his eyes glued on her backside. It took more than he was willing to admit to keep the smirk from showing as his quasi-little brother discovered girls.

 

Ah, to be young and foolish again.

 

Time moved on, each student proving that they did something outside of the Academy other than lounge around. Even Chouji Akamichi could turn himself into a pretzel on command, which said a lot for the Chuunin Instructors over the years. It was noted that if the rotund boy was a pretzel, Naruto could contort into a twisted jumble that defied logic.

 

The irony of the thought was lost on none that had it.

 

Having warmed up, the students followed the scarred man outside to the practice range. As per the norm, Sasuke took this opportunity to show off his amazing ability to revel in attention without looking like he was reveling in attention. At the same time, he ignored the masses of useless flesh that tried to claim they were female forget Kunoichi in training; knowing that he set them off every time he so much as farted never-mind doing something actually worthy of praise.

 

Following the script, those same things disguised as most of the girls harassed Naruto when his turn came up. Nobody could understand the logic that they followed, not even themselves so in typical teenage fashion they ignored their confusion.

 

Naruto let his irritation show for the first time in years. There were times he forgot his strength, usually in situations like this where his emotions were anything but calm. Handed a set of kunai that were in severe disrepair by Mizuki –who thought he was slick, yet his ploy was seen by all- the blond momentarily seemed to lose his right arm it moved so fast.

 

Anything can and will pierce anything else with enough blunt force. The training dummy downrange a hundred yards could attest to that as the kunai had hit their targets handle first yet still sunk in deep enough for just the blade to be sticking out, creating a vertical spike trap.

 

Absolute silence. Even the background critters were in a state of awe and horror for if that had been a living body . . .

 

Across the village Anko Mitarashi felt the urge to praise someone for coming up with a new, painful way to die.

 

There was no way Iruka could fail that effort. Even though, on inspection, the blond should have never been handed those weapons he had still made them work, in an unorthodox manner. Mizuki on the other hand felt he had gone on long enough that day without dishing some torment out to the village pariah.

 

“Uzumaki, fail! That was even more pathetic than usual! Get out of here and don’t come back until tomorrow!” the bellow of the assistant instructor earned him ‘are you stupid’ looks from not only the students and Iruka, but every other person that was passing the training fields.

 

Including the Hokage.

 

“I think not,” the gravelly voice of the Sandaime washed over the area, earning the attention of all. What had their eyes widening in surprise was the Killing Intent the village leader was flooding the place with. “Out there in the world, a kill is a kill no matter the method. I can see the damage from here, had that been a live target . . . well, it wouldn’t be now. Mizuki, follow.”

 

The Chuunin was terrified and with good reason. Equally known with the hatred was the fact that Hiruzen Sarutobi had a soft spot for Naruto, and if somebody did something stupid in his presence . . .

 

Time for some fast talking.

 

As the pair moved off to the side for a one-sided discussion on how to teach properly, Iruka came out of his surprise from not only Naruto’s performance but the unscheduled visit of the Hokage. Taking a look around revealed a cluster of civilian parents having been on a tour of the Academy in a recruiting drive. Only a few looked absolutely frightened by the showing of the blond boy, the rest were more confused as to why the Sensei had behaved as he had. That was a good sign, although the possibility that they were new to Konoha and had no information on young Uzumaki was more likely.

 

Moving on after Ino had her turn, even if nowhere near as impressive as Naruto, the class went to the Taijutsu training area for the spars. Usually it was separated boys and girls; yet knowing that prospective entrants were watching Iruka felt that a mixed spar would be a good idea and that having Naruto go first was even better.

 

“Hyuuga, Uzumaki! Front and center!”

 

For his part, the blond was ecstatic for the chance. A portion of the grade was on grappling, something that he intended to take full advantage of.

 

“Hajime!” he barked as soon as the pair had bowed to each other. He had noticed that the young Heiress was blushing up a storm while poking her index fingers together.

 

Her lack of action quickly came to an end when Naruto _moved_. The watching tour group, the rest of the class, even Iruka lost sight of the boy for a moment. Hinata was spooked into motion by this, subconsciously activating her _Byakugan_ for the first time without aid. Seeing him coming, she sent forth a right palm strike only to watch as he slipped under the stretched appendage and into her defense.

 

“EEP!” her squeak was the loudest any had ever heard anything come from her mouth as her face turned a deep shade of red before she fainted. The cause of this was behind her, his arms wrapped around her body with his left hand getting a fistful of her right breast while his right was grabbing the other.

 

“Huh, who knew?” Naruto mused to nobody, still holding Hinata up so that she didn’t get a face full of dirt. He got annoyed quickly with his fellows, standing around gawking at him when he wanted to let go. “Somebody wanna come get her? This is awkward enough.”

 

He ducked as Sakura sailed by overhead, right leg extended in a flying kick as she bellowed “PERVERT!” to the world.

 

“Oh, a threesome eh?” he taunted, feeling the rising ire of the girls. “Or perhaps a moresome? Yeah baby, I’m game.”

 

Iruka suddenly found himself holding the out-of-it Hyuuga while his favorite student went to work demolishing the fan-girls. He took notice that the blond kept his hands to himself with the others, only attacking areas when the opening presented itself.

 

“Damn it Naruto!” Ino raged as her ass throbbed from the rather violent knife-hand he delivered as he twirled around her. She made the mistake of trying a high kick with him, opening up a direct shot to the crotch.

 

“We are ninja!” he roared, punching Sakura where her right breast should be only to have his earlier thought confirmed. “You want a clean, fair fight?! Go be a Samurai!”

 

He ducked as yet another girl, one he never bothered to learn the name of, tried again for a headshot which he was having none of. He snagged her out of mid-air before spiking her like a football into the turf with his right arm.

 

This brought the boys into the melee.

 

“Hmmm,” Naruto took in the reinforcements with a calm look, talking to no-one. “Imminent demise? Yeah. Sharp objects? Yep. Bring it on.”

 

Iruka watched from the sidelines as a Battle Royale erupted during his class. He would have interfered by this point had he not had his arms full of Hyuuga. Every time somebody tried to arm themselves the blond was there taking their weapon away and chucking it into the empty target range, keeping the fight to Taijutsu . . . well, there was not much form so that was inaccurate. Perhaps going with a street-brawl . . .? Yeah, that sounded good.

 

Actually, looking at the roiling mass of flesh it was fairly obvious that the Academy style was a joke. Everybody was moving in ways that felt more natural to them instead of forcing themselves to hold to the katas.

 

Leave it to the Uchiha to get fed up with making no progress during a fight, breaking out the Ninjutsu.

 

“ **Katon:** -,” was as far as he got as his enemy was having none of that.

 

“ **Ice** ,” Naruto threw both hands forward, ending with them clapped together vertically making it look like he was pointing at his target. Being a single target, none of the surrounding students who suddenly stopped at the simple name were included in the counter. Sasuke, on the other hand, made for a lovely lawn gnome. His expression was one of surprise as he froze solid.

 

“That’s enough of that,” the blond had produced a massive zanbato from somewhere, wielding it with one hand like it weighed nothing. Looking closely from an observers point of view it almost looked like it could turn into many weapons.

 

Kiba hadn’t quite caught on that the fight was over, running on instinct as he went for another pass of the boy that once held his class ranking. As a reward for his efforts, he got the broadside of the giant sword across the face sending him into dream-land.

 

“Score: Uzumaki fifty-eight, Rest of Class: two.”

 

“How did that happen?” Iruka had given up on understanding the method to the madness and was just grateful that it had stopped. Other than bruises to the exterior and ego there was nothing permanent left in the wake of the melee.

 

“Aburame has had his bugs on me the whole time,” the answer was nonchalant, delivered with a stretch and yawn as if waking from a nap much to the surprise of Shino. The blond had indeed had quite a few of his Kikachu on his person yet looked fresh. “The other, Haruno farted in my direction nearly making me puke so I’ll give points for being a ninja and finding ways to try to win.”

 

“I did not!” the pinkette defended herself, red in the face from such an insinuation.

 

As if to disprove her own point, the back of her qipao dress started waving in the air from a wind generated within. The pitch changed, dropping into a range that made it sound like her butt cheeks were slapping together.

 

“Damned dango,” she grumbled, completely unaware that she had just made an eternal enemy.

 

Anko Mitarashi growled in her throat across the village, for somebody had dared to insult the dango! Thinking back on her previous thought she would find whoever came up with the new painful death, learn it and then hunt down the naysayer to make them pay!

 

“Right, moving on . . .,” Iruka deadpanned, knowing that the sixth sense of the second in command of Torture and Interrogation had gone off. He had had too many encounters of the close kind with the unhinged woman and knew that she would be gunning for the one that had insulted her favorite food.

 

**_Later that evening; Hokage’s Office_ **

 

“You outright lied to me,” Naruto gave his newly patented Stare of Doom to the Hokage, who was sweating buckets.

 

The Old Man was no fool. He knew that if the blond on the other side of his desk actually got angry he would draw on the power of his tenant, intentional or not. Such action would have plenty of consequences, not the least of which would be a renewal by the Council to oust to boy from his village.

 

“I know why you did it,” the younger man didn’t ease the look up in the least. “That being said, it doesn’t mean I have to like it. Instead of telling me you had “no idea” you could have told me that I would learn when the time was right, encouraging me to work harder at being a Shinobi instead of goofing off all the time. Before you open your mouth, if the words ‘normal childhood’ are even in the vicinity of your brain then you have _no clue_ who you’re actually dealing with here.”

 

“Naruto,” the tone the Sandaime used gave all the rebuke he needed to.

 

“Hey, give me some credit here Jiji,” the target of the newfound ire kept his Stare of Doom on full blast. “I am not rampaging around, burning everyone I see into piles of ash for letting their emotions get the best of them. That being said, no one of my . . . status . . . gets to have a ‘normal childhood’. If we’re not trained to be hidden weapons of mass destruction, we are shunned even though we keep the rest of the people around us alive with every breath we take.”

 

“Fair enough,” Sarutobi allowed the previous indiscretion to fall to the wayside. While he had earned the moniker ‘Professor’ there were still things that he had yet to learn. One such topic, as he discovered after erroneously telling the village about Naruto’s burden, was just what _Jinchuuriki_ go through in their early years.

 

Jiraiya had done his job with his spy-ring, getting the identities of the other eight. One was insane, Two was ignored thanks to Eight being a hero, Three had gone off the deep end for no apparent reason. Four and Five had dropped off the grid. Six was shunned thanks to the actions of Three. Seven wasn’t even allowed to be in her own village while Eight enjoyed his status thanks to being the only one to serve and survive in a Shinobi War.

 

“The question is, how did you find out?” the leader of Konoha came out of his thoughts to continue the conversation he really didn’t want to have.

 

Naruto fidgeted, his tell that he knew something of rather great importance that the Hokage did not and was trying to decide if he should tell him. Hiruzen actually felt a pang of hurt and guilt at the action, making him wonder just how much trust the blond gave him.

 

**_Midgar Ruins_ **

 

All thoughts about trust and the possible lack of fled Sarutobi’s mind.

 

“This is the find of a lifetime!” the Hokage gawked at his surroundings. While it was getting dark out, Naruto had produced torches for illumination.

 

“This is my sanctuary,” the younger of the two played tour guide, dropping the hint that he would like to keep this place under wraps. “Over here Jiji.”

 

The quiet tone of his voice alerted the Sandaime to just how serious the situation was. While archeology and paleontology were his secret hobbies he knew he had to shelve his curiosity for the time being. His thoughts were confirmed when he saw the skeleton propped up against a pillar.

 

“I see,” he had no need for an explanation from the young man. He had seen the results of what happened when the blond lurked in an area too long in his younger years. While stranger things had and will happen, being taught by a ghost of all things was right up there.

 

“He’s the reason why I became what I am today,” the young man kept his cool, aloof attitude going even if his expression softened, showing what he really felt. “If it weren’t for him, I would have never settled down enough to read, even if I found the topic interesting. Then I wouldn’t have understood a book written by the Yondaime and why he referenced a woman by the name of Kushina so much.”

 

“Well . . .,” Hiruzen didn’t know where to take the rather awkward conversation from there. The young man had already explained himself in his office after all.

 

“I could use some help on the _Bunshin_ ,” Naruto found that asking for help wasn’t nearly as hard as it was in his youth when he would be denied.

 

“How so?” the Hokage had noticed the change in topic but ignored it.

 

“My reserves are too much for my control to handle,” it was a credit to the blond that he didn’t even look bashful at that admission.

 

“I might have something back in my office that will help,” Sarutobi wanted to get out of the ruins before night fall. “That, and I have something else you need to know.”

 

**_Graduation Day, 0800, Academy_ **

 

Naruto Uzumaki may as well have been a zombie as he stepped into Iruka’s domain for the last time. It wasn’t the overload of learning the _Kage Bunshin_ –which, as it turned out, was the missing component to his other clones- that bothered the young man. No, learning of the passenger in his navel and just how his parents died had plagued his dreams the night before.

 

Really, if he was the _Kyuubi_ given human form was it such a great idea to anger him? Preposterous. It just demonstrated the level human stupidity can fall to.

 

Thoughts of revenge had surfaced in his mind for a moment, only to get brushed aside. It would be too easy to give in and slaughter everyone around him. He knew that in the end it would just leave a hollow feeling, no sense of satisfaction or accomplishment.

 

Proving people wrong, on the other hand . . . oh yes. There was much work to be done. His personality demanded no less, reinforced by the training of Cloud-Sensei.

 

But first, staying awake to get through this blasted Graduation Exam.

 

The written exam was a joke. Well, on the surface it appeared to be at any rate. Several of the questions were disguised in their wording, forcing him to use Gennin-level information gathering to get the correct answer without getting caught.

 

It was a Shinobi Academy. They were supposed to have some degree of stealth, at least enough to cheat under the nose of a pair of Chuunin who had to watch thirty students. Wait, make that thirty-one . . . where’d that pasty-looking kid come from?

 

Iruka had noticed Naruto looking around. He let it go since the blond was focusing on faces and not desks, apparently letting his mind wander aimlessly. His pencil was down and his test turned over, so it was of no consequence at this point if he was gazing around the room.

 

Mizuki also noticed, but for the same reasons couldn’t say anything much to his ire.

 

The rest of the testing went smoothly, even with Naruto accidentally destroying the target dummy in the Thrown Weapons Exam. Upon a closer inspection, the kunai he had used were coated half in Earth chakra and the other half Wind. The combination had let the weapons pierce with ease before the harder Chakra delivered blunt force trauma that shattered the back of the dummy.

 

 

The brunette instructor made a note in the file that would wind up on the Hokage’s desk about the boy’s Elemental Chakra awakening and advising training so he didn’t hurt an ally unintentionally.

 

The Final Exam was Ninjutsu.

 

“Look,” Naruto started straight away once his turn was called. “You both know I have almost no control for the amount of Chakra I have. You both even know _why_ ,” this caused their eyes to widen, “so instead of a regular _Bunshin_ I have the Elemental variants and _Kage Bunshin_ available.”

 

“Make one of each and you’ll get top marks,” Iruka wanted to smack himself for forgetting about the blonde’s humungous reserves. _Of course_ the boy would have no control with his Chakra being near the _Ichibi_! He conveniently ignored the subtle hint about knowing of his tenant for his own sanity. Instead he made another note in the file as one after another every clone known to Konoha –and a couple that were not- was paraded through the room.

 

“Where did you learn the _Kami Bunshin_?” he was compelled to ask, finding the Origami jutsu strange to say the least.

 

“In a book written by the Shodaime,” was the quick answer. “One that for security purposes now sits in the Hokage’s Office.” Naruto did not miss the greedy gleam in Mizuki’s eyes, giving away his intentions. A trip to see Jiji was in order then, right after class was dismissed.

 

“Excellent work Uzumaki Naruto,” Iruka beamed, feeling pride for the improvements the blond had made even if he had only had a minor hand in them. “Send in Ino then wait with the rest of the class.”

 

Grabbing a black-clothed hitae-ate, he defied logic contorting around himself to tie it to his right bicep. He surprised the pair of instructors when from one of his many pockets he produced another that had the symbol of _Uzushiogakure_ before tying it to his left arm.

 

Being that it was once his mother’s, he felt that having this to honor her by was a good start.

 

“Ino, you’re up,” Naruto’s announcement drew the attention of the room to his person. Jaws dropped upon seeing him with two protectors, one on each bicep. It was easy to see the village logos, which led to confusion on the _Uzushio_ headband.

 

“What the hell are you doing Naruto?!” Sakura screeched, acting offended for only she knows why. The entire class felt his displeasure when he glared at her, subconsciously leaking Killing Intent.

 

“This was my mother’s,” his right hand gestured to his left arm. “I only found out about her _last night_ -,”

 

“So it’s true then,” Sasuke had to make a barb, unable to resist the opening he believed he saw. “You really are the spawn of some two-bit foreign whore who no doubt abandoned you-,” he suddenly stopped, taking in the massive zanbato a hair away from his face. Leaning back a little, he was able to make out the pair of ANBU and the Hokage that were holding Naruto . . . apparently with great difficulty.

 

“Fuck you Uchiha scum!” the blond roared, causing the Chuunin Instructors to come running into the room. “That fucking infection you dare call a _Doujutsu_ was the reason the damned _Kyuubi_ appeared inside the Wall! You sons of bitches killed my parents! If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll see that damned eye destroyed!”

 

Breaking the grips on his person, Naruto leapt towards the window sword first. His arm moved, slicing the glass without breaking it causing the pane to fall away before leaping out of the Academy.

 

“If you ever, and I mean _ever_ ,” Sarutobi looked as mad as the blond that just left, “refer to the _Konoha no Aka Shi_ as what you did again . . . damned the consequences, I’ll kill you myself. Am I understood?”

 

Sasuke Uchiha merely grunted, trying to shake off the fear he felt. Where did he get off, either of them, thinking they could threaten his pure pedigree of a person?

 

“Be glad I was watching Iruka, otherwise you’d have a bloodbath in here,” the Sandaime ignored the disrespect, making a note to have the Uchiha Survivor checked again by the shrinks. Something had to have been missed for the boy to get this big an ego . . . ah. Damn Civilians.

 

Well, at least with Danzo thinking that he was being a smooth operator placing a protégé of his in the Exam the numbers were skewed enough to allow the Hokage to avoid the headaches having Sasuke near Naruto would cause. In fact, as he thought about it while heading back to his office, what he had a brainwave for ought to really put a bee in the Civilian’s bonnet.

 

It was good to be Hokage . . . some of the time. Mostly.

 

**_Woods to the east of Konoha, 0030_ **

 

“Ahhh, nothing quite says anger management like some random destruction,” Naruto was surprised by how long it had taken him to calm down after Uchiha flapped his jaw. Really, he was thankful that Sarutobi had stopped him from doing something he would have regretted later.

 

As Cloud-sensei once said, ‘ _It’s pointless to kill stupid people. More just take their place._ ’

 

Having worked his aggression out via remodeling the forest, he set back for home when he came upon an unexpected sight.

 

“-did you steal the Forbidden Scroll?!” Iruka barked, masking the pain he was in thanks in part to the weapons of the trade that were piercing his body in non-vital areas.

 

“Why else?” Mizuki was doing his best to be sibilant and sinister. Instead his tone was coming off as that of a follower, someone who had lost their mind somewhere along the line in exchange for letting their greed get the better of them. “The Scroll and the book the Demon found interest my new employer greatly, thus to secure my new position I am going to give them as gifts.”

 

“This is madness!” the brunette felt like screaming as his supposed friend turned traitor.

 

“Meh, if that blond piece of shit was here I’d gladly break his spirit by telling him of the Kyuubi,” at his words the forest went quiet, as if in disbelief that somebody could be that stupid. Both Chuunin, Academy Instructors or not, noticed the change almost instantly and started warily looking around as if expecting the Sandaime to appear from nowhere at the breaking of his law.

 

Iruka was also of the mind that Naruto himself might be nearby and heard that, which could lead to far more serious consequences.

 

‘ _I’m glad Jiji told me yesterday,_ ’ said blond thought while doing his best to keep his emotions in check. It was one thing to be professional in the face of anything and quite another to be like those Né characters that he had noticed a couple of times ‘trying to blend in’. Deciding to handle the situation himself, as the former-Sensei had dug his own grave, he moved out of the shrubbery.

 

Neither Iruka nor Mizuki noticed the appearance of the topic of their ‘discussion’, each focused on the feeling of doom that had settled in the clearing. Young Uzumaki had been trained by one of the best swordsmen of his time, coupled with what he had dug up on the Seven from Kiri. He had been fascinated by the Silent Killing technique and worked himself into the ground figuring out ways to improve it.

 

Zabuza Momochi used dense fog and mist as a medium to assist his rather impressive usage of the assassination technique. Naruto took it one step further, having unintentionally recreated a jutsu of his Godfather.

 

Invisible to the naked eye and moving silently, neither Chuunin knew he was there until Mizuki’s head fell off of his body. Even then, Iruka could not see who –or what, as he feared- had just ended the traitor’s life until with a ripple-effect he phased back into being.

 

“Are you all right, Sensei?” his quiet voice broke the quiet of the clearing, bringing the sounds of a forest at night back into the foreground. At first it seemed like a roar in the quiet, until the noises were tuned out in favor of focusing on each other.

 

“I’ve been better,” the scarred man gave a weak chuckle, his heart-rate finally starting to slow to normal. “What about you?” he wasn’t about to state the obvious in this situation.

 

“My . . . private Sensei . . . he taught me much,” the blond had picked up the Scroll and the book from where the traitor had dropped them. “One of those things, was that you have to steel yourself sometimes and do something that you find distasteful yet will prevent disaster of any type in the future.”

 

He finished his statement with a scowl at the head of Mizuki before it vanished into a containment scroll, that array next to another that had the kanji for ‘Body’ in its’ center.

 

The brunette was rather impressed by the rather clinical way the younger man had taken care of ‘cleaning up’. With the intact head and body, the Intelligence Division could learn much from the traitor postmortem. The only thing left to do was report in to the Hokage at this point.

 

“Did you hear him?” was thrown out on a whim, as it had temporarily been pushed aside for other matters.

 

“It doesn’t matter,” Naruto threw the other man’s right arm over his shoulders, “because Jiji told me yesterday.”

 

Well, that explained that . . .

 

TBC

 

Here it is, an attempt to get back into the flow of writing. My profile has the reasons for my absence of late, to which I do apologize.

 

 ** _POST NOTE:_** Cloud, _First Tsurugi_ and the Materia are the extent of the crossover. I got part of the idea for this from the beginning of _Advent Children_ , when Nanaki (Red XIII) roars at the Midgar ruins five hundred years in the future. At that time, the land around it was in the process of reclaiming the city . . . which suspiciously started to look like a plateau. So, add in a second calamity –the Juubi- reshaping the land, the Life-stream rising up at the direction of the Rikudo Sennin and the ingredients are there for this.

 

Two thumbs way, WAY, WWWAAAYYY up for the readers and reviewers. Without them, writing would be boring as all get!

 

Ja!


	2. Part Two

Disclaimer: I make no claims at ownership of any copyrighted characters, places or events used herein. The only thing I make a claim to is this fic, which originated in my head and any original characters created by me herein. The following was made for public consumption at zero profit, and is not for sale except to the owning companies. Yes, I dream big.

Special Notes: As a reminder, unless I state otherwise the characters are in their canon outfits. In this piece, the sole exception is Naruto at this point due to dressing quite similar to Cloud yet not underestimating how useful pockets are . . . well, that and how he lugs Materia around.

The Maelstrom Chronicles, Part Two

By: (Driver) Jim Ohki

Team Assignment Day; 0800; Monday June 10, 15 AK

“I’m proud of all of you,” Iruka Umino beamed at his class, meeting for the last time for the long-awaited Team Assignments. Most of the room, he knew, would wash out of the Elite ‘fast-track’ program and be sent to the ‘grunt’ forces. Even fewer of those that failed the Jounin-Sensei test would rise through the ranks, actually making something of a name for themselves.

In a way, this class just wasn’t fair. With seven heirs –eight, if the rest of the room knew of Naruto’s heritage- only a couple of civilian-born were going to get time in the spotlight. Thinking of that while giving his speech, the Chuunin Instructor looked down at his clipboard before mentally frowning. He did not like what he was seeing, but as team placements were designed by the Hokage –with input from a few sources- there was not much he could do.

The odd number would usually mean one of the class –the closest to the infamous Dobe position without being such- would have to hang around for six months with the next group in training. Unfortunately that spot was held by Kiba Inuzuka as Sai, being a late entrant, had been bestowed the Dead Last spot. That meant a suitable solution was necessary and the Hokage had apparently found one.

Naruto was doing his best to mask his nervousness. Having been trained by a true soldier of war, his entire body was giving off the air of indifference to the rest of the room. He had counted heads as Iruka started talking and found a problem in the form of the odd numbers. He was well aware of the populace’s disliking of his existence, and just knew that if those with the political power wanted to they could delay his entrance into the Corps. As the teams were named, his heart fell the more time that went by without hearing his name.

“Team Seven,” while he didn’t understand his Boss’ thinking, Iruka still had a job to do, “Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno and Sai under Jounin Kakashi Hatake.”

‘Yes!’ Naruto was still not showing anything, even if he was ecstatic at not having to deal with the Brood-King and his Howler Monkey. The emotionally dead Sai was still too much of an unknown, as even his insults were rather weak.

“Team Eight: Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka and Hinata Hyuuga under Jounin Kurenai Yuhi.”

‘FAIL!’ the blond just knew that team was going to have issues. Nothing against Hinata or Shino, it was Kiba that was going to let his base instincts free in an attempt to assert himself as the dominate force. May Kami have mercy on his soul if he made a play on Hinata or Kurenai –the name was obviously female- for Naruto most certainly would not when he found out.

“With Team Nine still being active from the last batch, Team Ten: Shikamaru Nara, Chouji Akamichi and Ino Yamanaka under Jounin Asuma Sarutobi.”

Insert whining from the blond female here.

‘Epic Fail.’ now that was an unmotivated group right there. That was all the thought Naruto could give to that bunch as his suspicions were confirmed. Although, why is it that the ranks of the Team Sensei were given? It was obvious that nobody under that rank would have students.

“Team Eleven,” Iruka surprised the class as he kept talking. “Naruto Uzumaki under . . .”

His trail off caught the interest of all, as the entire class –including the boy mentioned- leaned forward in anticipation of a doozy.

“Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi.”

Silence, for but a moment.

“Fuck yeah!” Naruto leapt into the air, right fist raised in victory. There was no way he was going to hold that in, no matter the circumstances. It also answered why the Jounin’s had their ranks given as somebody above them was taking a student. This was a most welcome surprise as he had thought that it would be another six months of waiting before getting out in the field.

The outburst of the blond had reset the brains of the others, most sitting back in awe that the pariah was going to get one-on-one instruction from The Professor. The Uchiha-Deserves-All Fan Club on the other hand started bellowing at maximum volume about it being unfair that the ‘idiot’ got something their precious did not. Said person was shocked into immobility, even if his expression gave away nothing.

Well, most of the Club. The only member known to have a brain outside of all things Uchiha, Ino Yamanaka, was giving an appraising look in Naruto’s direction. There were far too many interesting secrets surrounding the boy for her to ignore, and his appeal had only gone up as his indoor volume went down.

The irony went right over her head in regards to indoor voices.

“SIT DOWN AND BE SILENT!” roared Iruka, Big-Head set to fill the entire blackboard area. He ignored the fact that there was wind-swept hair left in the wake of his own shouting. “These teams were picked by Hokage-sama himself. If you have a problem with them, take them up with him at your own peril.”

That shut the room up as nobody was fool enough to bark at their leader and expect to get away with it. Even the inflated ego of Sasuke quailed in the man’s presence, something which bothered him to no end as he was an Uchiha and deserved everything everybody else had that he wanted.

“Now,” order had been restored promptly, allowing Iruka to finish his task, “in one hour your Senseis will be coming to pick you up. Until then go get a bite to eat, spend some time with your new teammates and get to know each other. Be back here before they arrive.”

WHOOSH

Naruto was gone in an instant, his departure leaving fluttering clothing in his wake. Iruka had braced himself behind his desk as the blond took off for . . . probably the Hokage Tower, now that he thought about it. Either there or Ichiraku’s, whichever brain was in charge of his body at the time.

Since the Academy was attached to the Administration Complex, Naruto was in Sarutobi’s office five seconds later. The man had felt his surrogate grandson coming, making a gesture at the door. The ANBU that had the bookcase today phased into being to open it before the yellow blur of hair –stirring up many memories of another fast moving blond- came to a sudden stop in front of the massive desk.

Young Uzumaki couldn’t help the light laughter at what he saw.

The Sandaime had gone horizontal on his desk, turning himself into a living paperweight to prevent the sorted stacks from being blown away. The fact that his hat had been tossed across the room attested to the boy’s backdraft.

“Leave us,” Sarutobi ordered once he was upright while extending his senses. He was not about to have a leak for what he was truly doing, at least not yet.

“I know why you are here,” he had collected his hat and sat in his chair to give Naruto one of the more serious looks he had. “Before I offer an explanation, I want you to understand that this is to be spoken to nobody else but me. Not the Ichiraku’s, not the Council . . . nobody. Am I understood?”

“Hai, Hokage-sama,” the younger man had become as serious as the situation demanded. He had caught the subtle hint that the order went from the obvious enemies to the people closest to his heart.

“Good,” an application of fire-natured chakra to the tobacco within had the pipe in his hand lit. “Now, you know that under normal circumstances with the odd numbers the one not assigned to a team –no matter the class rank, but traditionally the second to Dead Last- would have to wait six months for the next graduating class. This is not an option for you due to the next four classes being comprised of civilians.”

Naruto scowled, understanding what his Jiji was saying without it actually being said. The class with the Heirs was his only true chance to get into the ranks, lest those that had a beef with the Kyuubi trying something stupid by holding him back even longer. That, and to be surrounded by entire rooms of kids who had been told to avoid his person . . . he couldn’t suppress the shudder.

“I see you do understand the severity of the situation,” the Sandaime wouldn’t admit it, but he had to apply every trick he had learned in his long career to get a read on the blond. The kid had developed one hell of a poker face since he had been taken under the wing of his probable ancestor. “That being said, everybody knows that I am far too busy to do full time training of a student forget an entire team. What I did was create a legal fiction of Team Eleven, meaning that when I have the time I will be training you. Beyond that, your missions will either be solo or as an attachment to the teams that are in service. Do not break my trust in you to behave, Naruto. Your actions now personally reflect on me.”

“Hai, Sensei,” he wasn’t about to argue his first lesson, even if it was in politics. The blond could see the underlying statements for what they were. He was being given a massive responsibility, one that even the Sannin had not.

Being simply pointed in a direction straight out of the gate.

“Good,” Sarutobi was pleased that the hidden Namikaze had looked underneath the underneath to find the first lesson he had wanted to impart. “Now, it’s time for lunch.”

His answer was a growl from Naruto’s stomach that suspiciously sounded like ‘FFFFOOOODDDD!!’.

Three Weeks Later; July 1, 15 AK; 0800; Mission Hall

“Hn,” the Uchiha Noise of a Thousand Words drifted across the room, earning various expressions for his efforts. Most were simply raised eyebrows in amusement that the boy dared to think he could persuade the Hokage into a tougher mission. A few were in agreement with the boy, wanting him out in the field making a name for himself and showing that the village still had power.

Three and a half expressions were deadpan glares while the last visible person in the room looked like he was trying to take a dump right then and there.

“Fine,” Sarutobi had much experience with decoding the Noise of the Uchiha. The boy took after his father in more ways than one after all. “Send in the client waiting in Room Two please.”

For his part, Naruto just continued to stare at the current Rookie of the Year from the right end of the desk. Those that had dealt with his father at one point or another were sweating at the look patented by Minato Namikaze being an apparent passable trait, even if they didn’t know he was the Yondaime’s son.

The unnerving stare continued, even with the arrival of Tazuna and the ruckus he caused at seeing his ‘hired help’.

“Naruto will be going with you,” was the surprise statement from the Hokage, bringing all eyes to his person. He knew it took a lot to actually make a Namikaze angry but when they were Hell Hath No Fury. While his ‘current student’ acted a lot like his mother, his beliefs were of his father . . . alongside what used to happen when the Yondaime got mad.

Iwa knew the results.

“Hai, Sensei,” Naruto’s voice carried a sense of authority with it, even if it was just loud enough to reach all corners of the room. His eyes swiveled over to the client, who was trying to act tough but was giving away some sure tells that this mission was not what it seemed. He watched as the man took a drink of his sake for a boost in courage. His eyes were darting all over the room, as if expecting to be attacked that very instant. Now that the blond was focused on the older man, he could even see the sweat trailing down the sides of his neck to which he used the alcohol to mask the scent.

This guy has dealt with Shinobi before.

The ‘current student’ of the Sandaime gave his teacher a look that said ‘We’ve been had’ which was responded with another glance ‘Understood’.

“Kakashi, give me a moment to amend the mission scroll,” Sarutobi kept the same tone he had, that of a gentle leader believing he was sending a team out on a milk run. He was quick to add several instructions to the bottom, even if the silver-haired man was reading as he wrote.

“I take it Naruto is to handle the . . . extracurricular activities?” the Jounin pitched his voice so only his boss and protégé heard him.

“Hmmm,” was the sound of agreement that the Hokage made, even as he sprinkled some dust on the wet ink to prevent smudging. Once everything was in order and the scroll disappeared somewhere on Hatake’s person did he turn his attention back to Team Seven. “Set out for Nami no Kuni at once. Upon arrival Naruto has a different assignment to accomplish while you will be guarding the client until his work is done.” Left unsaid was the ‘Or he’s dead’.

Four Hours Later; Southern Route from Konoha to Nami no Kuni

‘Oh, here’s a failure so bad it falls out of the range of Epic and into Stupid,’ Naruto thought as the group approached a . . . puddle of water in a place one shouldn’t exist. Really, how dumb must one be? Hi no Kuni was in its’ seasonal dry-spell, for no rain had fallen in over a week and the sun was not obscured by storm-clouds. That immediately identified the assailant(s) as Suiton users, for only they thought that hiding in a puddle was a good idea. It didn’t answer any of the more pressing issues, but was still a dead giveaway.

All three Gennin of Team Seven walked right on by the fake puddle without a second look.

‘And there’s my answer to dumb,’ the blond wanted to smack each in the back of the head and point at the puddle-that-was-not.

It took far more than Kakashi would ever admit to keeping even his eye-smile off his face as he felt the subtle spiking of Killing Intent from the extra on the mission. Although, now it would be pointed out to the Hokage that he had been lax in teaching his students . . . anything, really beyond teamwork.

Crap.

“Bolt.”

There wasn’t much point in letting whomever was in that fake puddle get any confidence of their abilities. The rest of the group turned around to look at Naruto, who was scowling at the now smoking puddle that he had yet to pass. As if by magic –or rather, the chakra that had sustained the hiding spot being cut off- two bodies were unceremoniously strewn about on the road.

“Idiots.” Who that was directed at would be debatable, for his glare had gone from the duo on the ground to Team Seven to the client. Then he did something completely new to those not of Jounin rank by looting the crispy bodies for whatever good stuff they had.

“Really, Dobe? Are you that poor?” Sasuke felt words come out of his mouth that were plainly spoken for once and not a grunt. It was annoying to the Uchiha that every time the blond was around he couldn’t for the life of him keep to the Noise of a Thousand Words.

“Kakashi, have you taught them nothing?” Naruto ignored the attempt at a barb, instead putting the Sensei of Team Seven in the spotlight. “Any Shinobi worth their salt loots the bodies of their enemies, for one never knows what they’ll find. Like the gear these two had. Demon Brothers, eh? Piece of cake.”

“Kiri nuke-nin, how lovely,” the sole Jounin drawled, his eye focused on their client. The man was acting even more suspicious, even if the pair that had poorly concealed themselves never had a chance to launch their ambush.

The story poured from Tazuna’s mouth faster than he drank sake in his terror of being abandoned for lying about the mission. He was surprised that the Jounin and the attachment to the mission appeared to have . . . expected this? Two of the other three kids were being more emotional about the situation. One was unsure about her abilities and the other acted like he had a giant chip on his shoulder to prove himself. The other boy was grinning stupidly, almost as if waiting for orders and nothing else.

“Fire.”

And then there was the blond who just incinerated the bodies of his kills after getting his loot under the eye of the team leader.

“We’re continuing the mission,” Kakashi announced, having talked to his team when the client wasn’t paying attention. “Be on guard, all of you. Those two were working for somebody so we should expect stiffer resistance as we go.”

July 2, 15 AK; Nami no Kuni shores, 1000

So far no other enemies had set up another poor attempt at an ambush. Not that it helped Team Seven relax in their guard duty in the least. All three Gennin had their senses extended as far as they could go, trying too hard to compensate for their failure to spot something so outrageously out of place the day before.

“That fog is getting thicker,” Naruto mumbled, only Kakashi hearing him as the others weren’t focusing on the interior of their formation.

“Looks like a Kirigakure no Jutsu,” he had to agree with the tag-along. The natural morning fog had about burned off as the sun trekked higher into the sky, so a rather sudden dense pocket signified one thing.

“Incoming!” Team Seven plus client hit the dirt at the bark of the Jounin while Naruto simply looked amused. Really, some of what Cloud-sensei had taught him should be standard in the Academy such as Weapons Catching.

“Oh, very nice,” the blond examined the blade he had snagged out of mid-air, even as he turned to where it was headed. He almost cracked up at the sight of a man coming out of Shunshin only to realize his targeted landing zone wasn’t there.

“Give me my sword,” the man growled through his mouth wrap after clinging –via his left limbs, looking like a monkey- to the tree to save himself from a fall.

“I can sum up my answer in one word,” Naruto countered, left hand raised with index finger pointing upwards. “Loot.”

A roar of rage from the swordsman was his eloquent response to the wit as he launched himself from the tree. He suddenly contorted into a rather uncomfortable position to avoid his own blade taking his head off. The surprise of a child knowing how to handle such a large weapon put a cap on his anger letting him think.

“Kage Bunshin,” and now the clearing had twenty blond kids armed with a zanbato. The so far unintroduced assailant didn’t see the five that vanished into the woods.

“Kakashi, what have they been teaching in that village of yours?”

“Zabuza Momochi. This is a rather unwelcome surprise,” the silver-haired man ignored the question to subtly give the Gennin information. The banter of the pair allowed Naruto to maneuver himself into an optimal position to attack while at the same time being leery of the water.

“Let’s dance,” he broke into the conversation, each hand occupied by a zanbato. In his right hand was Kubikiribocho, in his left First Tsurugi. His stance was odd, the left-hand sword being held across his back as he charged in to battle. Once again nobody had noticed where he pulled his primary blade from.

The Gennin of Team Seven ushered their client into the trees as the action started, catching the sounds of another fight above their heads.

“Whoa!” Zabuza produced a pair of kunai from somewhere and was fighting for his life. He had never come across this style before, which was amplified by the second zanbato. Every time he blocked one the other was coming around with more power than the previous, on a different vector testing his reflexes to the extreme.

“There you are,” the blond casually commented to the fake Hunter that had just dropped down out of the trees to fight back-to-back with his master. Both Kiri-nin were bleeding from various slashes and wounds.

“We must withdraw,” a rather feminine voice came from behind the mask, making Naruto reconsider his assumption on which gender the accomplice was. “He’s too good-!”

“That’s enough of that,” eight Narutos drawled in stereo, creeping everybody out.

“Give. Me. My. Sword.” Zabuza wasn’t about to abandon his blade, for more than sentimental reasons. The blades of the Seven had a sentience of their own, always picking their wielders instead of the other way around. It was a secret of Kiri, one that even those that had abandoned their village wouldn’t reveal, that if one were to leave his weapon behind it would choose a new wielder.

“Loot-Loot-Loot-Loot.” the blond mocked, the entire exchange taking place while the three fought for supremacy. He had a chance as the pair were back-to-back, spinning around in place to verify which team Haku belonged to as the fake Hunter was directly in front of him.

“HOW DARE YOU KICK MY CROTCH!” she tried to roar which was more of a squeak of indignation and pain.

“Just testing a theory, sorry,” why he lied about being apologetic even he would never figure out. It wasn’t that important as his little experiment had enraged Zabuza again, which he took note of. The man may act tough, but he still had a heart after all.

Nobody noticed when he switched swords, First Tsurugi now occupying his right hand while his stolen ‘loot’ was in his left. With a mighty heave he performed an overhead slash, discharging the built up energy.

“Holy-!” the duo from Kiri dove for cover as a crescent-shaped beam chewed up the landscape as it passed by. Team Seven, watching from the sidelines, also had to move as the attack sailed into the forest taking down trees for a good twenty meters.

“Haku . . . come,” Momochi had enough of this encounter, knowing that Kakashi was lurking somewhere nearby waiting for the opportune moment to take one of them out. He was also aware that his decision cost him Kubikiribocho on a more permanent basis.

The pair vanished in a Shunshin, leaving a panting Naruto staring at the spot they once occupied. Yes, he had at least gotten a stalemate out of that battle but it showed him that he still had much to learn. That fight was grueling, far more than he had experienced in training.

“Dobe,” and here comes the Uchiha, Jealousy set to Maximum.

“No. Fuck Haruno first and I’ll think about it,” he knew the power-hungry child wouldn’t want to touch his female teammate unless he absolutely had to. He pointedly ignored said female off in fantasy land and the shell that was Sai. He was just getting his breathing under control, even if he was sweating buckets from his exertion.

“Just . . . get me home,” Tazuna reminded them that they were in a live-fire mission and not some milk run in the village.

That Night; Tazuna’s Home; 2030

“I don’t honestly know if they’ll be back,” Kakashi was saying to the locals and his team. “Naruto fought both of them to a standstill, inflicting several wounds that take at least two weeks to heal properly even with medical attention. If nothing else for his honor Zabuza will try, at least once, to get his sword back once he is healed. I know his type; he won’t send his partner out to do it as it would make him seem even weaker than he already perceives himself to be.”

“Then I have training to do,” the blond stretched but didn’t move beyond that. “In the morning, that is. That fight was brutal, even if I have stamina in spades.”

Enter Inari into the scene, brood on full display. It was even enough to make Sasuke, however briefly, question if that was what it looked like to outside observers before lightly scoffing and returning to his own . . . contemplations.

Naruto tuned the child out completely, even his shouting about some such or other. He had a secondary mission assigned in tandem to the Protection Detail, one that was now completely justified having heard the story from the locals.

Gato must die.

But first, time for scouting with clones while the real him did some training. In the morning, when he was recovered at any rate.

In a way, Kakashi missed the old Naruto. This new one was a much better Shinobi yet was just . . . too cold to his surroundings. While he didn’t actively push people away he rarely spoke up anymore, unless directly spoken to. Even then he gave the bare minimum to pay lip-service to polite conversation and that was it. While he had no direct interaction with the Jinchuuriki in his youth he had watched the kid causing havoc and mayhem wherever he went.

That came to a rather abrupt halt when he was eight. Since then, even if he had an emotional outburst from time-to-time, the blond was a calm and collected individual. The resemblance to his Sensei Minato Namikaze had solidified as he grew, including the fears of what would happen if the boy actually lost his temper.

The silver haired Jounin shuddered, having been there to see the results.

Two weeks later, July 16; 1100

Naruto awoke to a commotion in the lower level of the house, causing him to mentally curse and thank Kakashi for not waking him up when Team Seven followed their client out to the bridge. It was a calculated risk, gathering excessive amounts of intel while letting the scumbag that had ruined the land roam free.

That risk was about to pay off, now that his top lackeys were on their own mission of mayhem.

Out on the path that was built over the marsh, the thugs were chuckling to themselves for a job well done. They had the builder’s daughter while her son was sitting in a corner cowering in fear. They heard a noise from the direction of the house, only to find the kid they had thought scared into submission charging them while a rather large knife in hand.

Just the distraction Naruto needed.

The blond appeared behind the duo, who were not paying attention to their surroundings. Once Tsunami dropped he swung his ill-gotten gain in a perfect arc, taking both men’s heads off.

“Good, Inari,” praise was needed here after the way the child had been acting. “Overcoming one’s fears is never easy, yet you did so to save what is precious to you. This is what Kaiza felt when he stood up to Gato, even when he knew it had cost him his life. He stared his fear in the face and did what he thought was right. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I do believe the bridge is under attack.”

Unnamed Bridge; Ten Minutes Later

“Foolish little Uchiha,” Naruto grumbled, taking in the situation. That weirdo Sai was down for the count, looking like a porcupine due to the multitude of senbon in his body. He could feel Sakura fairly far off, next to Tazuna as a guard even if she was fairly useless in this conflict. Kakashi and Zabuza were playing tag in the rather thick mist, if their banter was any indication.

Sasuke had let the chip on his shoulder dictate his actions, taking on Haku and getting his ass handed to him.

That wasn’t all his senses were telling him. Off of the unfinished end of the bridge, waiting in a barge, were a couple hundred mercenaries and Gato himself.

Feh, all too easy.

“Damn that blond!” Zabuza roared, losing the fight rather badly since he was reduced to using a training zanbato in place of his lost blade. The weapon was not truly meant for combat, being unbalanced and not of the quality he was used to.

“I do believe you have better things to worry about,” Kakashi drawled from his position in the mist, using Zabuza’s own ‘voice throwing’ against him.

“Done already?” heralded the arrival of Haku, looking worse for the wear and panting heavily.

“Hai, Zabuza-sama. The Uchiha was not easy to subdue.”

That simple statement froze the Jounin of Team Seven for just a moment, before his ANBU training kicked in shunting the cold rage he felt into his chakra.

“Let me guess, you left him alive as usual?” Zabuza unwittingly saved the life of his adopted daughter, who was about to be impaled by a kunai in Kakashi’s left hand.

“He is not the objective,” the Hyoton wielder sounded miffed at being called out on showing mercy. “While he was in the way of our goal, he has been subdued and is of no more consequence.”

“Zabuza, you imbecile!” a new voice called through the mist, surprising those that heard him bar a certain blond. “I ask for one simple thing, give you a small fortune to do it and yet it’s still not done?!”

Naruto had to be quick to hide, clinging to the side of the bridge as the dense mist lifted revealing Gato and his merry band of mercenaries.

“Oh well,” the short man grinned maliciously, both hands resting on the head of his cane. “I never did plan to pay you the rest of the money. That’s what these guys are for,” a gesture at the thugs around him, “after all. Nobody cares if a PMC such as mine takes down a nuke-nin. So instead of losing money on a venture that is not profitable, I’ll make money off of your corpse and by selling your little assistant to, say, Otogakure. The rest of the females my men will have their fun with before disposing of the trash properly.”

On one end of the bridge was Gato and his army. Near the middle was Kakashi, Zabuza and Haku –whom had been busy, moving the unconscious members of Team Seven. The completed end had Sakura, Tazuna, Sasuke, Sai and the villagers that had just heard the threat of their oppressor.

Naruto had enough.

The appearance of the blond, between the Jounins and the enemy, silenced those watching. His expression was serious, mouth set in a thin line frown with his brows furrowed inward ever-so-slightly.

Kakashi shuddered. It was the look his Sensei had when word of what Iwa was doing to civilian villages had reached his ears.

Behold, an angry Namikaze.

With a robust twirl, Kubikiribocho attached itself to his back before his hands clapped together, pointed at the enemy.

“Diamond Dust.”

Strange spheres with kanji appeared from nowhere, sailing into his person before he seemingly faded from existence. In his place was a floating, ten foot tall blond woman that for all intents and purposes was nude save for a tiny purple wrap across her breasts and hips.

“Shiva!” Haku gasped, seeing yet not believing that the Patron of the Yuki Clan was present.

The woman held her right arm up, palm up which started drawing in the ambient moisture in a radius of seven feet. With a gesture, the sphere in her palm broke apart into tiny motes that looked like diamonds.

Gato and his army, on the other hand, were flash-frozen by the rather large boulders made out of ice that appeared from where the motes hit. The ice shattered, dropping the bodies to the undamaged bridge.

The onlookers, including the awakened yet immobile Sasuke and Sai, could only gawk at the sheer power the blond had at his command. He had just mercilessly slaughtered a couple hundred men with rape and mayhem on their mind.

“We’re . . . free,” one of the villagers whispered, dumbstruck by such a notion.

“FREEDOM!” roared another that had heard the nearly silent comment, feeling the weight of the world life off of his shoulders.

“Scum,” Naruto ignored the sudden celebration going on behind him to punt Gato’s body off of the unfinished end into the channel below. Let the sharks have their feeding frenzy.

“Grandpa, you’re safe!” Inari cried, overjoyed that the man would live to see another day.

“Oh father!” Tsunami bawled into his right shoulder, the events leading up to this moment finally breaking her barriers.

“Give me my sword!” Zabuza reminded the crowd he was there as he made a blind charge at the blond standing by himself after chucking the last corpse off of the right side of the bridge.

“Naruto!” Kakashi needlessly yelled as the target of ire was well aware of the incoming threat.

The former Swordsman, although still a patriot, was so blinded by his rage that he missed the boy pulling a kunai out of his holster, which was on the side turned away from him. With the weapon in a reverse grip, he swayed backwards as the taller man sailed by overhead before twisting his right wrist to bring the knife around and plunge it into Zabuza’s heart from under his left arm.

“No! Zabuza-sama!” Haku arrived seconds too late as she held the dying body of her everything.

“Haku, you silly girl,” he coughed. “Now I die with honor, having lost in a battle and not by being stabbed in the back.” He ignored the bad timing of the pun. “You’re my legacy, my everything. I never told you how much you meant to me, and I should have.”

“Don’t leave me . . . father,” she whimpered, clutching his body tightly.

“Can’t help you with this one, daughter,” this time, blood poured out of his mouth when he coughed. “Damn, he got my lung too. Listen to me, go with them and live. You’re strong enough to survive out in the world. Follow your own dreams now, Haku.”

“Father!” her tears were like snow, gently falling on his face.

“Boy!” the last outburst he could make he directed at the one that got him good. “Promise me you’ll take care of her!” The energy he used to bark at the blond only sped up his own demise.

“Hai,” was the simple answer from Naruto, who was staying far enough back to give them ‘space’.

“Mei . . . Terumi . . . tell her, I remember . . .,” were his last words as his body relaxed, eyes sliding shut.

“NO!” Haku howled to the sky, causing a localized snowstorm in her emotional state.

“We’ll bury him, with honor,” Naruto knelt next to the distraught girl who promptly turned and engulfed him in a hug as she bawled. She didn’t care at the moment that this was the one that had ended her father in all but blood. She had seen the whole thing, he had only defended himself from the attack. He continued, awkwardly rubbing her back with his left hand, “Help me here.”

July 22, 15 AK; Unnamed Bridge; 1000

“That’s it then,” Tazuna smiled as the bridge officially opened for business, connecting the lands of Hi and Nami together.

“Our mission is done here,” Kakashi agreed, speaking for his team. They were standing a bit closer to the end of the bridge, waiting on their Sensei to get a move on. It was rather rude on their part, but as they were short one they had to wait for him.

“We’re ready,” Naruto appeared from nowhere, Haku in tow. “Just had to tie up a few loose ends.”

“Well then, we best be off!” the silver-haired Jounin eye-smiled, creeping the two latecomers out. Who does that, anyway? As one Team Seven and their extras took off for home, leaving the land of Nami no Kuni free of their oppressors.

“We need a name for the bridge,” Tazuna rubbed his chin, as his latest work was more like a monument than ‘just a bridge’.

“Nothing with Super in it, father,” Tsunami teased, watching the backs of the Shinobi as they left the bridge before leaping into the trees.

“Sugoi, Naruto’s the greatest!” Inari had his hero-worship on full blast. “Someday, I’m gonna grow to be as strong as he is!”

“Bridge . . . Naruto . . . Great,” the old man mumbled, before snapping his fingers. Raising his voice and the champagne bottle in his left hand he made his choice. “I christen thee: The Great Naruto Bridge!”

With a clatter of broken glass the bottle spilled its’ contents on the railing to the cheers of the villagers.

Tsunami smiled mysteriously, her right hand absently rubbing her lower abdomen. She was reminded of another blond man she had met, sixteen years previous. “It’s a perfect name, father.”

July 23; 1400

The trek back to the village was much faster without the civilian in their midst slowing them down. Team Seven didn’t feel the urge to talk to their attachment or his extra for different reasons.

Sakura was scared by the power the blond the same age as her possessed. He had, without a second thought, slaughtered over two hundred men. Granted, they were spouting off at the mouth about what they wanted to do to her and the other females, but the sheer ferocity he showed was unreal. Then he sticks a kunai in Zabuza’s ribcage, killing the man rather painfully. Haku she was unsure of, having spent zero time with the girl that had attached herself to Naruto’s hip.

Sai needed orders from Danzo on how to proceed. What he had witnessed was beyond the scope of his programming to deal with, thus he simply observed and listened to provide as much information as he could.

Sasuke . . . well, at first he was daydreaming about using the power of the blond to kill his brother in various ways, since that thought always dominated the forefront of his mind. Then it dawned on him that he had no idea how the Dobe had done what he did, causing a deeper brood than normal as he tried to come up with ways to learn his secrets.

Naruto had his own hands full at the moment.

“We should be arriving shortly,” he subtly hinted that she needed to give him some space.

Haku, on the other hand, was internally laughing her ass off at the flustered blond. While she was mad at him for what he did to Zabuza, she had also known him to be there to help her through her loss. She also had the request of her late father to think on, which contradicted itself. He had told her to live her own life, yet asked the young man beside her to take care of her. Perhaps, that was his way of giving his blessing . . . in a roundabout, twisted Shinobi-honor kind of way.

How odd.

Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to scream and pull what was left of his hair out of his head when Team Seven –plus attachment- made their report. Kakashi was going to get his later, when the Gennin were not within earshot. Really, doing a mission with A-Rank difficulty with Fresh, Unbloodied soldiers? Was he asking for a demotion?

Then there was his own student, who had shown incredible power at the drop of a hat. When the Jounin repeated –word for word- what Gato and his lackeys had said, he had the pleasure of seeing the Angry Namikaze Face again.

To think, that wasn’t the Truly Angry or even Furious face . . .

The Hokage shuddered, hoping that something would come along to keep those faces from surfacing. The last time he had seen the Furious face, five battalions of Iwa troops died in seventeen seconds.

“As per the amended orders,” Naruto brought his Sensei out of his thoughts, “not only did I eliminate Gato and his upper echelon employees, I secured Gato Corp for Konoha minus a ‘finder’s fee’ for myself and a ‘recuperation fee’ for the citizens of Nami, which should clear their debt to us on the mis-ranked mission.”

“Good work, Team Seven,” while it was directed more at Naruto who was not part of their squad, it had to be said as a show of professionalism. “I have some things to discuss with my student and his . . . new friend. You’re dismissed.”

Kakashi was quick to herd the Gennin out of the office, not even bothering to ask about increased pay as he had fumbled the mission entirely. It was actually against policy and procedure to take Unbloodied Gennin into a combat zone, a practice which has kept the fresh graduates alive longer.

“Now then, what shall I do with you?” Sarutobi’s gravelly voice washed over the pair as soon as the door shut on the start of an Uchiha rant.

Apparently he had noticed the lack of a pay or mission difficulty increase.

“The Council shall not touch her,” Naruto gave the Annoyed Face, which was the first warning sign of the Angry Face. All that was missing was the furrowed eyebrows as his mouth set into the thin-line frown.

“You know as well as I that they’ll . . . make some noise for show,” the Sandaime lit his pipe, ignoring the frown of Haku at smoking indoors.

“Saving face and making noise is one thing,” the blond kept his expression the same, showing that he was not amused. “If they make her cry . . .”

“Well, to put a stop to their nonsense I can instate her as a Gennin on your team,” the Hokage suggested, seeing the newest resident to Konoha perking up for whatever reason. “It would put her under my authority, which would take a unanimous vote of the Shinobi and Civilian Councils to override. A vote that wouldn’t happen since the Clans are not amused by the recent power-plays of their counterparts.”

“Y’know, for a dictatorship this place sure feels like a democracy,” the former resident of Mizu no Kuni stage-whispered rather loudly to Naruto, making her point known.

“I prefer to think Capitalistic Totalitarianism,” Sarutobi deadpanned, not amused at having his leadership slighted, however subtly.

Naruto stayed silent, knowing that this particular argument would not only go nowhere but was a rather sore spot for the Hokage. There was no chance he was going to get drawn into a fruitless debate, not when he had other and better things to do.

He may not bellow it to the Heavens anymore, but damn it all he needed his ramen fix pronto!

TBC

Meh, I aim for 10k words and end up with just over 7k. But, as that is a good stopping point before going into the next Arc it’ll work for me. Yes, Naruto is damn near a Master Swordsman. He had SEVEN YEARS of extensive training under Cloud, which when one considers he learns by doing should be a clue as to how he should have been taught in Canon.

Materia power for the win!

Oh, before I forget and get a gazillion reviews about my style: If it happened in Canon, the reader should be familiar with the events I glossed over. I much rather write what was going on elsewhere/in the background as then I’m not just making filler.

Hats off to the readers/reviewers, who make this hobby worth it!

Ja!


	3. Part Three

Disclaimer: I make no claims at ownership of any copyrighted characters, places or events used herein. The only thing I make a claim to is this fic, which originated in my head and any original characters created by me herein. The following was made for public consumption at zero profit, and is not for sale except to the owning companies. Yes, I dream big.

 

The Maelstrom Chronicles, Part Three

 

By: (Driver) Jim Ohki

 

**_Naruto’s Apartment Building; August 7, 15 AK; 0700_ **

 

“Come on Haku!” Naruto bellowed while pounding his right fist on her door. “Jiji needed us for something at seven thirty!”

 

Muffled cursing accompanied by a thud or two was his answer, letting him know that she was up and moving. Really, whoever would have guessed that she slept heavier than he did? The fact that it was even possible for somebody to sleep more than he did completely escaped his notice.

 

“All right, let’s go,” she still looked half-asleep as her body moved on autopilot ten minutes later.

 

He opted to remain quiet at her half-lidded eyes and general disposition, rather annoyed that he had to raise his own voice to get her moving. Really, the things he did for people.

 

The trek across the village was silent between the pair, one trying to get her brain operational while the other gave the Annoyed Namikaze Face to the glaring masses making more than a few lose control of their bodily functions. It made the prankster part of his personality giddy, the effect he had on those that didn’t like him these days.

 

“We have been summoned,” Naruto gave the secretary outside of the Hokage’s Office his now go-to expression, making the woman –a civilian planted by the Council to ‘review’ the paperwork before it touched the Sandaime’s desk- defecate loudly before squeaking like a mouse and running off.

 

“I guess that means ‘go on in’,” Haku deadpanned, unamused by the odor left behind that now tickled her nose.

 

“Hmm, guess she needs to cut down on the beans,” the blond shrugged before letting them into Sarutobi’s domain.

 

“What the hell died out there?” apparently the smell had followed them into the office and the Hokage sniffed something foul.

 

“Whatever your secretary had for dinner, I’m guessing,” Naruto’s quiet drawl made those listening develop an eyebrow twitch. “On to more important matters. You wanted to see us?”

 

“Yes,” Hiruzen took a moment to get his brain back into gear. “You see, the _Chuunin Exams_ are to be held in a week’s time here in Konoha. Under normal circumstances, neither of you would be allowed to participate as your Team is a member short. However, there are perks to being Hokage; one of them being I can end-around the Council on all matters Shinobi. For the duration of the Exams Team Eleven is considered ‘full’ and thus permits the two of you entry.”

 

Again, it was a thinly veiled legal fiction that held to the word of the Exams Treaty –the vehicle that the Council would use more-so than Naruto being who he was- but not the spirit. It wasn’t normally done, yet since the inception of the pseudo-war the various leaders would send in a pair of their most talented to get them out of the rank of Gennin. Mostly it was seen as a move of desperation, a need to attract clients with their up-and-comers.

 

Both of the students on Team Eleven were more than ready for the next rank. Haku, from her previous lifestyle –to put it delicately- had the skills, mentality and knowledge. All that she was lacking was leadership, which was a bit of a problem whenever her teammate was around. She would defer to him for just about everything since coming to the village. Naruto on the other hand was simply lacking experience, which would be quickly accumulated once he was promoted and able to run more missions of his choosing.

 

The fact that he would be getting his inheritance, such as it was, and effectively poke the collective eye of the Council was just a bonus.

 

“Haku, come. We have training to do,” the blond kept the same quietness to his voice but his eyes gave him away. He was fired up and raring to go.

 

**_Konoha Academy Room 301; One Week Later; August 14; 0800_ **

 

“Piece of cake,” Naruto pitched his voice so only Haku could hear him as he surveyed the room. Really, there were few who would make it passed the First Exam. Those that did were going to be tough to handle. Not difficult though, just tough. Spying Subaku no Gaara giving his best glare around the room at the other participants, even his siblings/teammates, made the blond narrow his eyes at his fellow _Jinchuuriki_.

 

Nobody had told him about the youngest son of the Kazekage being a container. There was no wild epiphany nor any dramatic posing involved. It was rather obvious from the kid’s control of sand and the bloodlust rolling off of the redhead in waves.

 

Two plus two equaled _Ichibi_ after all.

 

Putting the unstable boy out of his mind for the moment, Naruto continued his little quest on gathering information without moving from his spot or talking. His eyes drifted by the door as a noise drew his attention causing him to scowl.

 

“Great, Team Ego is here,” he muttered to Haku, giving a chin thrust at the recently entered Team Seven. Behind the three was an influx of the weaklings that had been stalled on the second floor. “Looks like the Uchiha couldn’t keep his lips shut about the Genjutsu. Idiot.”

 

Haku merely gave a ‘hmmm’ in agreement, knowing that the boy let his ego precede him into any situation.

 

It was rather surreal, watching the Rookies suddenly congregate around each other yet the entire group managed to miss the spikey-blond hair of Naruto in their midst. Then it got plain sad when only Hinata, and strangely Ino, bothered to ask about his whereabouts.

 

“He’s on a team by himself, remember?” Sakura answered, shivering at the memories of Nami. “Without teammates he couldn’t participate in the Exams, which works for me after seeing what he did on that bridge . . .”

 

Enter one Kabuto Yakushi onto the scene, giving his sales pitch which drew in Sasuke like a moth to open flame. It was all too easy to enrapture the newest Gennin with the information in his deck of cards.

 

“Naruto Uzumaki huh?” the gray-haired teen smirked, using the index and middle fingers of his right hand to push his glasses back up his nose. “I don’t know why you would care about him seeing as he’s not even in these Exams but I’ll humor you.”

 

He glanced at the card he had pulled out, before doing a double-take and gulping audibly. Before he could start reading it a massive zanbato arched over his head to stab the apparently offending object into the floor.

 

“ _Kubikiribocho_ ,” breathed Sasuke, knowing who had that sword last.

 

“That’s enough of ignoring my presence,” Naruto gave his Annoyed Face at his fellow graduates minus the two that had actually cared enough to wonder where he was. The entire room had gone silent at the blond making himself known after the rather girly shriek of Kabuto almost losing his right hand to the sword.

 

“Most troublesome,” Shikamaru Nara looked like his eyes were attempting to vacate his skull being as bulged as they were. He had not sensed the once-loud classmate anywhere nearby yet here he was in all of his imposing glory.

 

“Now, now Naruto,” Haku made her own presence known as she stood on the left of her teammate. “No scaring the newbies into an early retirement.”

 

“Bah,” he scoffed, left hand running through his hair before he half-shrugged at her. Without a noise he had the stolen sword of Kiri slung across his back, stuck there via his chakra.

 

“How can you be here?!” Sakura backed away in fear, her shaking so bad she almost tripped over her own feet.

 

“Team Eleven is currently full,” why he bothered to explain he didn’t know, “and as such is eligible for the _Chuunin Exams_. Problem?”

 

“Nope,” Sai gave one of his empty smiles even as he ignored the bead of sweat going down the right side of his neck.

 

**_Jounin Lounge; While First Test was in progress_ **

 

“Pops, what are you doing here?” Asuma Sarutobi was surprised to say the least at the presence of the Hokage.

 

“My team is taking the Exams same as yours,” the elder man used his pipe to point at his son, “so why wouldn’t I be in the waiting room with the other Senseis?”

 

“What madness is this?” Baki muttered to himself, disbelieving that the Sandaime had taken on another team while in office. Really, only Minato Namikaze had managed to find the time to tend to his surviving students after obtaining the highest rank in Konoha. Just how the blond man had managed to do so eluded everybody to this day.

 

“Ah,” Asuma could find nothing to say in rebuttal to his father’s words.

 

“I wasn’t aware you’d taken on more students Hokage-sama,” Kurenai was suddenly on alert, fishing for information out of her boss. The last trio to be trained by the man had grown to rather amazing heights, even if their paths diverged and their choices affected their status with the village.

 

“Surely you jest,” Kakashi lowered his book to look over it at the raven haired woman. “We all knew about Naruto after all.”

 

“But you didn’t know I found him a teammate to take the Exams, did you?” Sarutobi looked pleased with himself as the Jounin under his command focused on his person. “Even better, you brought her back from Nami and had no idea what I’d done with her.” He had to mask his humor at seeing Kakashi choke on air, his book tumbling into his lap.

 

“Zabuza’s apprentice?” Asuma had heard rumors of the teen floating around the village but hadn’t put stock in them because he had yet to meet the Kunoichi-that-wasn’t-a-month-ago. What was in that pipe and where could he get some?

 

“Yes, yes,” the Hokage waved off the questions that were about to burst out of his subordinates in the presence of foreign Shinobi. “So, how do you think your teams will fair against Ibiki in the first test?”

 

“Wait,” Kakashi had put his book away at that, “are you telling me that you have Ibiki proctoring the First Exam?”

 

“Yeah, what of it?” Hiruzen narrowed his eyes at the Jounin, wondering where he was going with this.

 

“So you have Ibiki Morino in the same room as Naruto Uzumaki?” the silver-haired man sweated at the possibilities. After all, the blond Gennin was known for mind-games and he was currently in the presence of the master of them.

 

“Ah . . . oh dear,” Sarutobi sweated, shoulders slumping a bit as he realized he may have made a tactical error. “Well, this should keep things interesting.”

 

**_Konoha Academy Room 301; Same Time_ **

 

It was an epic clash of wills, witnessed by those in the room that still had brain functions as the Proctor and a lone Gennin dueled it out. The madness had started as soon as the pair had made eye contact, each recognizing the other almost instantly.

 

“Full House.”

 

“Straight Flush Ibiki-kun, you lose again.”

 

The entire building shook from the face-vault.

 

It was not just a random poker game that had flared into existence when Naruto realized who the Proctor was. No, as the rest of the now recovering room could attest to the pair had been using every trick in the Shinobi handbook; from sleight-of-hand to distractions to Killing Intent to illusions –or in Naruto’s case, _Kage Bunshin_ making liberal use of the _Oroike_ \- of naked women draping themselves over their opponent.

 

“Humph,” Ibiki lost with dignity, refusing to pout in a room full of greenhorns.

 

Once the rules were explained, ignoring the half-smirk of the blond, did the First Test of the Exam commence. Not two minutes later did it stop again as a paper airplane of all things wedged itself into Haku’s bun with a crinkle. Nobody, including the Proctor or his Chuunin Assistants, had seen who had thrown it speaking highly of their stealth.

 

The brunette pulled the offending object out of her hair, staring at it oddly before the writing on the inside made her realize what was going on. Somehow, someway somebody had just given her the Answer Key to the First Test.

 

The test-takers went back to work in the silence, realizing that one of their number had just cheated to the nth degree yet was not thrown out.

 

For his part Naruto kept a neutral expression on his face while on the inside he was laughing it up. That was _classic_ , the old ‘paper airplane answer sheet to the head’ and he had gotten away with it. Times like these he really had to hand it to Cloud-sensei for teaching him all about stealth.

 

Now, to further his entertainment, he decided to hack into the rather unsecure for Chuunin or higher communication sealing array in the room. This style was not field-capable as it was, as implied, entirely too easy for anybody with the knowledge to get into the network. It was however perfect for testing a room full of Gennin who had yet to hear of such marvels of _Fuuinjutsu_.

 

Using the back of his test he quickly drew the corresponding symbols and was reading the conversations in a short order. A couple of tweaks and he could now speak on the network, without being identified.

 

**_Communications Conversation_ **

 

CA #8: 10, third time caught

CA #1: 77, second time

?????: Heya fellas! Man it’s boring in here!

 

\---

 

The test-takers stopped yet again as the Chuunin lining the walls were startled by something, the one closest to Ibiki showing the Proctor his clipboard.

 

For his part, Naruto had stopped writing so as not to give himself away as the intruder in a ‘secure’ conversation. Once the rest of the Gennin that were still finishing the nine questions went back to work did he continue ‘talking’.

 

\---

 

Ibiki: Who is this?! Answer me!

?????: Nah, that would be too easy.

CA #1: If you don’t want to fail this instant answer him!

Ibiki: Focus on your job, I can handle this.

?????: I doubt that, just thought I’d entertain myself with the time remaining.

CA #6: Damn it, now I’ve lost count on my section.

CA #4: Same here.

?????: All too easy. FYI, Kabuto Yakushi is a spy.

Ibiki: What?

?????: He claims this is his seventh exam. Nobody takes more than four and he had restricted information on the Gennin.

Ibiki: What kind of information?

 

The entire conversation blanked out at that point, before what the card looked like dominated the papers.

 

**Name: Naruto Uzumaki-[CENSORED]**

**Rank: Gennin, 1/9 of Class**

**Missions: D-52**

**C-0**

**B-1**

**A-1**

**S-1 (LIFETIME MISSION)**

**Taijutsu: Jounin**

**Ninjutsu: Kage**

**Genjutsu: Chuunin**

**Kenjutsu: Kage Plus**

**Chakra Capacity: Yonbi**

**Chakra Control: Ichibi**

**Naruto Uzumaki-[CENSORED], son of Kushina Uzumaki and [CENSORED] the [CENSORED] of Konoha. Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko. Labeled ‘Dead Last’ by his peers, even if he is not.**

 

“Number eighty-eight, FAIL!” Ibiki roared all of a sudden, spooking the Gennin who were concentrating on passing the test.

 

Kabuto looked up at his number being called, a spike of chakra announcing his annoyance while at the same time giving himself away. Nonchalantly he rose from his seat, his teammates duplicating his actions before the three fell over as ANBU revealed themselves, snagging the entire team before whisking them away.

 

“The fuck was that about?” Kiba scratched his head without dislodging Akamaru.

 

“None of your business if you wish to pass,” the lone Jounin in the room growled, completely miffed that he had missed something so vital.

 

**_Jounin Lounge; Same Time_ **

 

“Hokage-sama, a situation has arisen,” the ANBU that had just appeared from nowhere spoke in monotone. “You’re needed in Torture and Interrogation.”

 

“Very well,” Sarutobi sighed as he stood, his face going from relaxed to the likeness on the Monument in a heartbeat. “One of you keep me appraised on Naruto’s progress.”

 

“Hai, Hokage-sama,” the trio of Asuma, Kurenai and Kakashi came to attention while sitting, seeing how serious their boss was at the moment. This wasn’t the place to ask questions as the other Jounin eyed the goings on with feigned disinterest.

 

Baki was the most concerned as he was aware that their Konoha contact was taking part in the Exams. If he had been found out the entire plan was now moot as the village would change all of their strategies on the fly, making any invasion impossible. The worst part was until the month break was announced he couldn’t return to Suna to forewarn the Kazekage to keep suspicion off of himself.

 

**_ANBU Headquarters; T &I Division Cells; Five minutes later_ **

 

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” the Hokage thundered as he looked through the one-way mirror to see an entire Konoha Gennin team being accused of treason and espionage.

 

“Kabuto Yakushi had these on him,” Inoichi, being the Third in Charge of the Division was leading the investigation as Ibiki and Anko were otherwise occupied. He was holding up a certain deck of cards that was one short. “The first mind-dive revealed how these operate and the fail-safes he has on them which are not many. He was more concerned about other information that I might be after and only managed to block me after he figured out what I was doing.”

 

“Can you show me?” came out more as a demand than a question, however finding spies that had been operating under his very nose for who-knew how long grated on his nerves. Where the hell was Jiraiya and why had the man _not_ noticed this?!

 

The head of the Yamanaka obeyed the hidden command, earning bulging eyes from the Sandaime for his efforts.

 

“He was _dumb_ enough to put his own allegiance on his card?” Hiruzen couldn’t believe . . . wait, yes he could. Anybody that was willing to work with his traitorous student had to have an ego the size of the moon. There was no other way around that.

 

“Oh, it gets even better,” Inoichi deadpanned as he brought forth the traitor’s dossier. “At one point Danzo Shimura had gotten his hands on young Yakushi, before sending him on a mission that had him disappear entirely from the village for close to two years. He came back after an encounter with Akasuna no Sasori, who had planted one of his favorite espionage seals on the kid. We had thought at the time that nothing was amiss once we ‘disabled’ the seal, but that was proven to be false when after the evaluation he disappeared again for close to a year.”

 

“He sought out my student during that time,” the Sandaime grumbled, feeling the weight of his mistakes multiply.

 

“Hai, as far as we can tell now that he’s been caught,” the blond man replied, flipping papers in the folder. “He’s damn good at what he does, but there must be another element within Konoha that ‘filled in the blanks’ of the times he’d go walkabout.”

 

Sarutobi wasn’t about to voice his chief suspect, not when the man had eyes and ears everywhere. This event however gave him the leverage he needed to put the faux-cripple in his place.

 

It was time for the Kami no Shinobi to put his foot down.

 

“Spread the word to the Council: meeting in one week, after the Second Event of the Exams. Failure to show is an immediate loss of position and a ten million ryo fine,” the Hokage ordered before leaving for his office.

 

There was much work to be done.

 

**_Next Day; Training Ground Forty-Four “Forest of Death”; 0700_ **

 

“Hmmm,” Naruto made a thoughtful noise to himself as he gazed at the place where the Second Test was to be held.

 

The Forest of Death was imposing, no matter how one looked at it. The vibe he was getting was telling him something rather important, but he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what it was.

 

He had no idea that the Forest had been grown by the Shodaime on a place where the Life-Stream was nearest the surface, giving rise to the mutated fauna and animal life. If there was any one place where monsters could be spawned, this was it.

 

It was contained by a rather flimsy fence and some _Fuuinjutsu_ that prevented the place spreading. Oh joy.

 

Barely paying attention to Anko Mitarashi was getting on her nerves. She was delighted at the worry and fear she could practically smell on the Gennin . . . except for a handful. The redhead from Suna, one of the Kusa Gennin that was fixated on the Uchiha for some odd reason, the brunette that was standing next to the target of her ire and the blond swordsman that was giving the Forest a dissatisfied look.

 

Really, he seemed almost . . . _disappointed_ with the challenge that her home-away-from-home gave just about everybody that entered it! Well fine then, if he felt this was too easy she’d send him into Sector No Hope and see how he felt afterwards.

 

If he made it out alive, that is.

 

Wavers were signed, the test was explained, scrolls were handed out and gates were assigned. The Second Test started at eight on the dot, sending the Chuunin hopefuls into a mock mission.

 

**_Sector No Hope beyond Gate Forty-Four; 0805_ **

 

“That woman has made my shit list,” Naruto growled as he cleaved another abomination in half while off to his right Haku froze a slew of the creatures solid.

 

These things were Chimera, there was no doubt about it. The legs of a spider going into the torso of a bear with the head of one of the Giant Leeches made for an unpleasant sight indeed. It was compounded by the fact that at full standing height they were twelve meters tall and about as fast as a Kage thanks to the eight legs.

 

Their bear forelegs/arms gave them incredible strength, as was demonstrated when one ripped a massive pine out of the ground and threw it like a javelin at the blond.

 

“Now I’m annoyed,” he gave the corresponding Face to the Forest, causing the creatures to back off. “Haku, get behind me as I’ve had enough of this shit.”

 

The brunette complied without question, wondering what he had up his sleeve that could handle the insanity around her.

 

She quickly understood why he had her retreat as with a twirl _Kubikiribocho_ was slung across his back. His hands came together in a clap, fingers pointed into the mass of creatures before he faded out of existence.

 

**“Beta.”**

 

In the diameter of fifty meters the Sector disappeared under a mushroom-shaped purple-and-black fire that was upwards of a kilometer tall. Everything died a rather painful death as there was nothing left behind, not even ashes.

 

The other creatures that had been waiting for a free meal beat a hasty retreat from such power.

 

“Right, moving on,” Naruto acted like he had not just roasted a chunk of forest, instead focusing on the task at hand. “We need to get out of this Sector for no team will be foolish enough to enter. We should go straight to the Tower . . . because I lifted these off of the Proctor.”

 

He revealed that while Anko had been busy licking blood off of his cheek and whispering psychotic nothings into his ear, he had picked her pocket of the two scrolls she had used to demonstrate prior to the test even beginning.

 

That, and her money scroll as preemptive revenge for her general attitude. Ramen, here he comes!

 

“Ah, okay,” she sweated, not able to believe that he was so bold. The Proctor _had_ no visible pockets after all so he had to have pulled those from somewhere.

 

“Get on,” he kneeled before her, presenting his back. “We’ll make far better time if I get you out of this forsaken Sector.” Once she was secure, having wrapped her arms around his shoulders while his had a hold of her thighs he shot off far faster than was expected of a teenager.

 

**_Forest of Death Central Tower; 0815_ **

 

“This is not possible,” Anko fumed from the security room, the monitors displaying a feed from the cameras showing the two-man Team Eleven strolling rather nonchalantly into the building.

 

“It’s legitimate,” one of the faceless Chuunin scratched his head in confusion as both scrolls were opened and Iruka Umino appeared in a puff of smoke. “New record for the Second Phase of the Konoha Chuunin Exams confirmed at . . . fifteen minutes on the dot.”

 

“Damn it, I was about to go get me some lunch,” the Tokubetsu Jounin whined, hands discretely checking her hidden pockets. When she felt the lack of a trio of scrolls she was quickly able to figure out what happened. Not that she was going to admit to a room full of people that she had been outright robbed without her notice. Her pride demanded otherwise. “Oh, that little fucker is gonna pay for this!”

 

The others watched her storm out of the room, before looking around and shrugging not understanding what had set her off this time. Anko was known as an excitable woman after all.

 

**_Tower; Lower Levels_ **

 

“So we have almost five days . . . and nothing to do?” Naruto gave a deadpan expression at his former Sensei. “We can’t even set foot outside of here or risk disqualification?” His gaze shifted over to Haku, who was fidgeting nervously. A part of his old personality chose that moment to surface by way of a prank. “Well, I suppose we could spend that time fucking like rabbits.”

 

The way their jaws dropped open and their eyes bulged comically was priceless. Then the joke backfired as his blushing teammate shifted a bit before answering.

 

“All . . . all right,” she whispered while tapping her index fingers together in a manner like Hinata.

 

“Gaki!” Anko broke the suddenly awkward moment, not that it hadn’t been filed away for future reference, charging up to the blond. “Where the fuck is my scroll?!”

 

“Hello to you too,” he took the out provided, baffled as to why his little joke was agreed to. He ducked under her left cross before rising up with a kunai to slice her mesh shirt from hem to neckline, causing it and her trench coat to flop in the breeze.

 

“Okay, not quite what I had in mind,” seeing the Proctor distracted trying to put her breasts away he took the opportunity to flee, Haku waving behind him like a flag in his haste. “On the other hand, I will admit that’s a nice pair of tits.”

 

How he said that with a straight face, no blush or nosebleed at all, none of the witnesses could figure out. Then Team Eleven was gone to who knew where, having made good on their escape.

 

“He’s _dead_ ,” Anko growled to nobody, before retreating to her personal room at the top of the tower for a new shirt. A seed had been planted though, as the boy had surprised her with his move and if he had been aiming to kill her he would have succeeded. That interested her as it would take somebody on par with her rank or above to do such damage.

 

Iruka lay forgotten, passed out from sudden hemorrhaging of his nasal cavity from his own view.

 

**_Tower Meeting Hall; Five Days Later; 0800_ **

 

“You passed the Second Test,” Anko mumbled around a dango skewer, completely unenthused to the surprising amount of Gennin that had survived the Forest of Death. Her attitude was rewarded with a scroll slamming into her pocket, which she had tried to dodge.

 

No Shinobi worth their salt tries to _catch_ an unknown object sailing in their direction at speed. No, they live far longer when they get out of the way of potential danger.

 

Pulling it out revealed her previously pilfered stash of cash, which actually had a bit more in it than when it disappeared. About the right amount to cover a new mesh shirt, come to think of it.

 

“All right!” she was all cheer now, pumping her right fist in the air to celebrate.

 

Everybody else gathered for the end of the test sweat-dropped.

 

For his part, Naruto simply crossed his arms and gave a stare that made the redhead from Suna flinch to the amazement of his teammates/siblings. The vibe the blond was giving off was one of ‘don’t waste my time’ which was picked up on by the Hokage prompting his speech.

 

Yackity schmackity, blah-blah-blah, pseudo-war, yap-yap-yap, Preliminary Fights, cough-cough . . . wait. Naruto tuned back in to find that some dude trying to hack up a lung had _interrupted_ the Sandaime in his most impressive jaw-flapping to date. Not that he had paid attention, as he had heard variants of it before.

 

Just like that he tuned the obligatory third-party explanation out. Really, why was it that everybody felt the need to explain every little thing they did to an audience? Was there a bunch of people watching that he couldn’t see? Questions that may never have answers that he promptly discarded as unimportant.

 

While his ears were turned off, his eyes on the other hand were watching the fights. It was asinine the way the pairings were ‘random’, always a weak one against a strong fighter. Sasuke punted Ino around for a bit, Shino freaked Sakura out with his bugs, Hinata –surprising those that didn’t know her- pummeled the Oto Kunoichi Kin Tsuchi, Neji crushed that Zaku character while keeping a monologue about fate going. Gaara made Dosu disappear into his sand which was rather impressive if disgusting.

 

Haku owned the battle with Shikamaru, without resorting to any of her Hyoton. Naruto had to chuckle at that one, all she did was stay at range and managed to slip two senbon through the Nara’s defenses to put him in the False Death.

 

Lee managed to outlast the battle of endurance with Chouji without revealing any of his tricks.

 

As the number of combatants whittled down, Naruto noticed the odd numbers. Only Temari, Tenten, Kankuro, Kiba and himself had yet to engage in battle. Somebody was going to have to do a double-elimination to even the numbers out for fairness in the first round of the Third Exam.

 

Really, having a fresh fighter engage a tired one was rather pointless. One would be overeager to show their skills while the other would be in desperation mode hoping for a quick victory to rest. That would make both sides sloppy.

 

Sure enough, Temari dominated against Tenten. That match was the absolute worst as one overmatched the other. It was the end of the fight that saw the blond move from his spot for the first time.

 

“And just what was that?” Naruto glared at the wind-mistress from atop her upright and closed fan. Tenten rested in his arms as if she weighed nothing, wide awake at the current happenings.

 

“When did he get so _fast_?” Kiba gulped, having seen what he believed to be impossible. One moment it looked like the bun-haired Bukijutsu user was about to have her back broken the next she was snagged out of midair. Then he landed on the fan –driving it halfway into the floor- and gave off the scariest look the Inuzuka had ever seen.

 

Whispers abound in the room as those watching tried to justify what they had witnessed. For her part, Temari was _this_ close to having an accident from the facial expression sent in her direction. When he could combine the look with Killing Intent he could clear a battlefield by himself!

 

“Ah, bad sportsmanship?” the quad-pigtailed Suna Nin waffled, trying to find an answer that would satisfy her tormentor. She didn’t realize she had to use the facilities so bad until this very moment.

 

Naruto casually stepped off of the embedded weapon, before leaning towards the scared girl.

 

“You ever try that with my comrades again,” he ignored Tenten being the only other to hear his quiet voice, “and not even the _Ichibi_ will stop my wrath.”

 

With a squeak of embarrassment Temari fled the room to go find a toilet and a change of clothes. That kid was scary!

 

“Do you need the medics?” he looked down at the one in his arms, giving a cursory glance and only finding superficial wounds. That didn’t mean much when something internal could be bothering her.

 

“Ah, it’s just flesh wounds,” Tenten fought her instinct to snuggle into the warmth his body gave off. “I’ll be all right once you drop me off on the balcony near my team.”

 

“GAH!” came from Team Gai as the duo on the floor appeared next to the Sensei. Once again they missed his movement, further intriguing the audience.

 

“This belongs to you,” dropping his left arm force Tenten upright, landing lightly on her feet as the blond moved over to his spot where Haku was waiting.

 

He did not fail to notice the raised eyebrows in his direction.

 

“Ah geez, this thing is ruined,” Kankuro had sent his puppet to extract his sister’s war fan, only to find that the metal had crinkled jamming it shut. “This was mother’s . . .”

 

“Mother?” Gaara suddenly took interest in the goings on near him, before launching his Killing Intent at maximum power across the balconies.

 

“Do you _really_ want to do that?” Naruto looked unfazed, moving to the railing in clear view of the rest of the room. “Do you want to fuck with me? Eh? Say hello to my little friend!”

 

Gaara fell over instantly from the counterattack of Intent, seeing his death numerous times in his mind’s eye. An illusion of sorts waved into existence above the blonde’s head, visible from the other balcony.

 

The _Kyuubi’s_ face to be exact, red eye glare cranked to maximum with the fox’s own whiskers looking fiercer than normal. The lips were pulled back in a snarl, exposing the teeth for all to see.

 

Underneath that nightmare inducing image was Naruto, giving his Annoyed Face which was almost as bad.

 

The rest of the room in the know nearly panicked at two _Jinchuuriki_ for all intents and purposes declaring war on each other.

 

“Naruto!” Sarutobi bellowed, clutching at his chest in terror. One Bijuu encounter was bad enough, two actively fighting each other in the village would spell doom for it. A random thought, nearly lost in the haze of thoughts, crossed his mind about _when_ the blond had trained with the power sealed within him.

 

The massive Killing Intent faded, leaving a room full of panting people preoccupied with not losing control of their bowels. That was far more intense of a stare-off than any other person alive than the Hokage had encountered before.

 

“One foolish move,” Naruto may have turned the Intent off but his face said it all, “one . . . _bad idea_ to hurt that which I care for and you shall feel my _anger_.”

 

The most fearsome sight graced the Meeting Hall. The blonde’s eyebrows furrowed downward while his mouth turned into a severe thin-lipped deep frown. His head even tilted forward a bit, giving the illusion that his eyes had been partially covered at an angle by the skin crinkling on the top of his nose. Those that had seen this particular look before, on a different man, turned white in fear.

 

Behold, the Furious Namikaze Face.

 

“No . . .,” Baki had seen a picture of the long-departed Yondaime in an old Bingo Book. Seeing that same expression live, long after the man’s death, revealed just who was giving him the chills of death. Minato Namikaze had a son . . . ah, hell. The _Kyuubi_. No, Suna must withdraw from this foolish pact with Oto at once if they were to survive!

 

Kiba and Kankuro were matched up, and neither knew how to top that blatant display of power. Rather than dwell on it and thus remind themselves of the feelings it evoked, the duo focused on each other before launching into combat.

 

This fight was actually interesting for a change, as a battle of wits one wouldn’t expect from an Inuzuka erupted on the floor. Feints, counterattacks, fake-outs, constant switching with a decreasingly mobile puppet, getting Akamaru to live up to his name and smoke bombs aplenty defined the battle.

 

With hiding damn near impossible for Kankuro, he lost the attrition and the match. Even with the various smells being generated the puppeteer had not accounted for the nose of his opponent finding him without fail.

 

“Due to the odd numbers, the final fighter shall have to battle twice,” Hayate Gekko coughed his way through talking. The only thing that was different was that he didn’t list any opponents confusing the rest of the room.

 

Shrugging his shoulders, Naruto casually dropped off of the balcony railing landing with nary a sound. This surprised the others as when he had landed on Temari’s fan –who had just returned and was lamenting her lost weapon- he had generated a lot of noise and shook the building.

 

“So, who am I fighting?”

 

“Naruto Uzumaki,” the Sandaime clasped his hands behind his back. “It has been decided amongst the Konoha judges that your training style and previous Sensei have put you on a far different level than the Gennin that have advanced to the Finals.”

 

Whispered conversations broke out as those watching tried to figure out what was going on now.

 

“As such,” the Hokage ignored the voices, “it is our decision that you shall face opponents of a higher caliber than Chuunin. First, Tokubetsu Jounin Anko Mitarashi.”

 

All right, this he could work with. A Jounin, even a Special Rank legal fiction was no walk in the park. This would be an excellent test of his skills instead of having to hold back too much.

 

“Seriously?” Sakura whined while at the same time getting closer to the railing. It wasn’t unheard of for somebody to skip a rank or two, but to do so _in the Chuunin Exams_? That was really outside of the box.

 

“You and me, mano-a-womano!” the Mistress of Snakes roared, thumping her chest psyching herself up. Of course she intentionally bungled the saying, wanting her own twist to things.

 

“The rules are simple,” Hiruzen took over as the Proctor. “First unable to battle due to submission, unconsciousness or death loses; anything goes.”

 

Naruto’s face changed into a vulpine grin of doom, one that gave away his thoughts. _I’m going to_ enjoy _this!_

 

The Hokage barely got out of the way as Anko led off with her tried, tested and proven ‘snakes up the sleeves’ which usually caught people unprepared. She was surprised by his counter, a zanbato in each hand twirling around him so fast as to act like a blender shredding the serpents. She leapt in close, trying to find an opening and almost lost her left arm for her troubles.

 

The left sleeve of her coat falling off spoke of how close that encounter had been.

 

Anko backed off, hands suddenly occupied with a kunai each as she attempted to deflect the storm of swords closing in on her position. Sparks flew everywhere as her reflexes were tested to the extreme, blades of death coming from virtually everywhere at the same time.

 

Those in the gallery had already lost sight of the match, instead only hearing a steady ‘ _clang-clang-clang_ ’ as weapons bounced off of each other. Neji suddenly ducked, a broken kunai flying through where his head had been to impale itself into the wall so deep as to disappear to the naked eye.

 

“Youth,” Gai and Lee were awed into a quiet state, neither having witnessed such displays of passion like this before.

 

Gaara simply raised a partial wall of sand, high enough to be ready to grab anything while still allowing him to see . . . the occasional blur. He ignored his siblings and team leader hiding behind his person, thus missed the irony of their actions.

 

Anko’s coat suddenly appeared, now sleeveless and looking like somebody had fed it to a tree chipper. The male adults in the room leered, knowing that all she wore under that was a mesh shirt that could be seen through at the right angle.

 

“This is fun,” Naruto’s voice came from everywhere as he employed his modified Silent Killing.

 

Anko stopped sliding backwards, her stance ready to charge ahead when her skirt fell apart in tatters. As a Kunoichi worth her salt she ignored the fact that she was in nothing but her mesh shirt, mesh shorts, leg guards and sandals. Wardrobe failures were expected in the real world after all, and a good female could take advantage of some exposed skin to turn the tide.

 

She growled, slowly turning clockwise looking for her opponent and maintaining her guard. She would admit it to her few friends that she was finding herself actually pressed. She knew she was up against a stamina freak, one that wasn’t even breathing hard after their little dance.

 

“Yield,” suddenly the two zanbato were on her shoulders like a giant pair of scissors, her head in the middle.

 

“Um . . . no,” she wasn’t about to admit she was scared out of her mind right then, facing imminent death at the hands of a teenager.

 

“Very well,” the blades vanished into nothing, “you leave me little choice. A word of advice: never let your enemies behind you. **Konohagakure Hiden Taijutsu Ogi: Sennen Goroshi**.”

 

Kakashi face-palmed. He just _knew_ he was going to get blamed for this, even if he had never shown the blond that particular . . . move. Wait, he couldn’t be accused of teaching that ‘technique’ . . . but it was listed in the Forbidden Scroll. The same scroll that was ‘borrowed’ by Mizuki and returned by Naruto.

 

Damn it, the blond must have pulled a fast one and copied parts of it.

 

“AAAAHHHH!” Anko screamed, hands having gone to hold her ass as she flew into the air from the chakra infused poke. She barely had time to register the literal pain in her butt when her head impacted the far wall, near the ceiling. She crashed to the floor, knocked into blissful unconsciousness.

 

“Ah, right,” the Sandaime coughed uncomfortably, having confirmation that his surrogate grandson had indeed made himself some learning material the night the Scroll went walkabout.

 

There was little need and no ceremony to announcing Naruto the victor.

 

“You’re _mine_ ,” Kurenai looked fierce, upset by the way her friend had lost. She was in the blonde’s face, having intercepted him down on the hall floor.

 

“You want some of me too? Bring it on,” he was fearless in his taunt, going out of his way to outrageously eye the Jounin’s body. “Tell your friends about me, there’s plenty to go around.”

 

She knew she was being mocked but couldn’t help herself. Her left cross sailed over his head as he ducked into her guard, twisting around her frame to land a vicious stomp on her rump. The raven-haired Sensei sailed across the room landing face-down, ass-up much to her embarrassment.

 

“Ooh, my poor ass,” the medics had awoken Anko to run a concussion check as leaving one unconscious with a brain injury was never a good idea. Her whimper was enough to attract Kurenai, making the woman pause her confrontation with the blond.

 

“That went well,” Naruto kept an eye on the pair while giving more attention to the Hokage.

 

“You wanted a friend of theirs?” Sarutobi had a gleam in his eye, finding amusement in what he was about to do. “Your match in the Finals, one month from now, shall be against Yugao Uzuki.”

 

The sword-mistress of Konoha herself? This bears some thought . . . and, done.

 

“Really, you’re pitting me up against an ANBU-level Kunoichi that is friends with them?” Naruto pointed to his left with his right hand at Anko and Kurenai. Both were looking rather smug for some reason which he quickly put a stop to. “All too easy. I want the Ice Queen Cadre, the four of them.”

 

“How bold,” the Hokage blanched, wondering just what the boy was up to. More whispering broke out as information on the four coldest Kunoichi in the village was exchanged. “One is a Chuunin and wouldn’t overly be a good match.”

 

“Good point,” the blond scratched his chin. “Hmmm . . . all right. The Cadre and Tsunade Senju then.”

 

 

“Are you challenging one of the Sannin?” Hiruzen checked his pipe, wondering if he was smoking something he shouldn’t be. It wouldn’t be the first time he used the wrong stash.

 

“Meh,” the nonchalance was outrageous to those watching. “Cadre, Senju and her apprentice. That oughta even the playing field.”

 

“He’s lost his mind,” Asuma deadpanned to nobody, wondering what in the world had possessed the blond to take on the powerhouse Kunoichi.

 

“No I haven’t,” Naruto’s answer was a surprise, as most thought he couldn’t hear them. “I have a score to settle, a one-time fight to get my aggressions out. Win or lose, I’ll take what I get. The Cadre, Senju, Shizune and Jiraiya. One month. Them against me, seven-on-one.”

 

“Now you’re being unreasonable,” Sarutobi was exasperated by his pseudo-grandson.

 

“Fine,” Naruto went for the kill. “You and me, mano-a-mano.”

 

More silence.

 

“If that is what you really want?” the Hokage grimaced, having fallen into a trap he should have seen coming.

 

“Oh, but the stakes aren’t nearly enough,” the blond gave his go-to Annoyed Face. “Promotions are easy to come by in this world. No, we’re going to need some motivation to make it interesting. Victory for me: you reveal all about the Uzumaki and myself. Victory for you: the village gets its’ weapon.”

 

A rock and a hard place. One that Danzo would actually get emotional about when he learned of this. With a sigh of frustration at being outmaneuvered by a _child_ the Sandaime nodded his head.

 

“Exxxxxcellent,” Naruto tapped the ends of his fingers together in order, index to pinkie.

 

TBC

 

And CUT! Well, not quite sure what I did there but it flowed like water so . . . moving on!

 

As always, thanks to the readers/reviewers that make writing fun!

 

Ja!


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